


A Study In Deceit

by PurpleCatGhost



Category: Sander Sides
Genre: Angst, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders - Freeform, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders - Freeform, Deceit Lies At All Cost, Deceit Sanders - Freeform, Deceit is kinda mean, Deceit is not ALL Bad, Deceit’s Real Name, Focuses on Deceit, He's a pretty interesting dude, Just Like Breathing, Little shorts about Deceit because I wanna go into his character, Logan Calms Patton Down, Logic | Logan Sanders - Freeform, Lying To Youself, Morality | Patton Sanders - Freeform, OC Dark Sides - Freeform, OC Sides, Patton Gets Angry, Patton is ALLL feelings, WHOA WHAT A FIRST, little bit of crying, lying, sympathetic deceit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-03-18 01:52:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13671810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleCatGhost/pseuds/PurpleCatGhost
Summary: People are never so simple, and most of all, Deceit is not. After all, he’s a liar, so naturally, stripping him down to his core is difficult when you have twists and turns at every corner. In fact, perhaps Deceit even lies to himself.You love your job. He tells himself, smiling to seal the deal. You would never want to be anyone else.Oh, what a beautiful lie to tell...And how hard is it for the others to understand someone who lies all the time? Very. But they are nothing if not persistent.





	1. Just Like Breathing

**Author's Note:**

> First Sander Sides Fic, hopefully it goes well

**_Third Person_**  
Lying was easy.

Deceit was someone who knew that better than anyone. Lying, to him, just came naturally.

He knew that from the beginning of his creation. When Thomas was young, telling the truth often got so messy and irritating. ‘Oh yes, I did break that vase on accident.’ And then suddenly he was grounded. ‘Yes, I think I like boys!’ Then suddenly you get told you’re just confused.

Deceit hated it. In fact, it was from Thomas feeling this exact feeling that created him. Deceit’s first breath into life was followed by a strong hatred for the truth, and all the pain it brought.

So yes, lying was so easy for him. Almost every sentence he spoke was a lie, and without him even knowing-or perhaps that’s a lie he told himself- he began to even think lies.

Because in the end, Deceit was built upon millions and millions of lies. Some, that he kept hidden to even himself.

A painful truth that he wanted to avoid was that he couldn’t just lie forever. Even if he wanted to, the truth could be found, even in lies. You only needed to know where to look.

Deceit should’ve seen it really. As soon as he allowed himself to be found again, making a grand reveal, the others would want to have another “Family Meeting” as they called it.

Well, only Patton called it that. Roman, Logan and Virgil didn’t consider him even a part of them. Another lie that Deceit had placed in their mind, though it wasn’t intentional. There were quite a few lies Deceit didn’t make intentionally, and were simply created by his presence. The others could often do this too with their own parts of them- Virgil being the strongest in this, able to create a fear in the others- but Deceit was more subtle than any of them.

As he entered the room, he quickly noticed how similar, and yet so different, it was from any other time. Well, given there was only one other time. Most of them weren’t too fond of him- if not all, though Patton was a difficult one to figure out.

Each had a chair pulled up to make a circle, with one empty for the “Top” of it, where all their focus would be. As he sat down, he quickly noticed and laughed at how even now, their chairs represented who they were.

Logan had a simple black one, but the condition of it was well kept, very clear that even in its age, he worked hard to keep it in good condition, getting rid of any scrapes he found. Patton’s had a baby blue one, which had a couple stickers and doodles all around it. Roman’s was originally just red, but he had painted it with gold stripes and stars, as well as sat on a pillow to go with it. Finally, Virgil also had a black one, much like Logan’s, but his had little patterns of purple around it. At first, Deceit was surprised that Virgil would go through all that effort for a chair, before he noticed it also had ‘Virgil’s Chair’ written with hearts replacing the dots in the I’s. Then, it was clear to him that Patton had decorated it for him.

Deceit gave a sly smirk to each of them, quickly picking up how much everyone had changed. Virgil, who had chosen to sit the furthest from him, still self consciously moved closer to Patton, partly for shelter, but also to protect the smiling trait. Roman was on the other side of Virgil, clearly taking the same approach of wanting to be as far away from him as possible, and though he shrunk away at first, Deceit noticed he was itching to have his sword by his side.

Patton and Logan sat on both sides of him, but Patton was more willing to be closer than Logan was. Logan studied him closely, raising an eyebrow when Deceit gazed at him. Patton just kept smiling. Deceit could tell he was doing so to make him feel comfortable, and willing to give him a chance even after what had happened, and yet, that’s where it backfired a little.

Deceit found Patton, Thomas’ Morality, to be… Unnerving sometimes. True, a part of him got his personality down with the upbeat personality and jokes, but the interest in his eyes when he looked at Deceit was something he could never grasp. It was the true emotions that Deceit couldn’t quite get. That’s how he was found out, how Virgil sniffed him out so easily.

That, and the fact that the pair had gotten close since he last saw him.

“Deceit! Man, it’s been so long since we’ve all been together like this, huh?” Patton grinned, starting it off. “Really hasn’t been the same without you.”

“Yeah, it’s been better.” Roman mumbled bitterly under his breath, glancing at the yellow eyes before averting them to anything else.

Patton shot him a look. “Now, now, Roman. You all agreed to play nice as long as he does, and he hasn’t done anything wrong.” Even through his scolding, his words were still upbeat.

“Yet.” Virgil added quietly, staring directly into his eyes. He didn’t so much as flinch, even when Deceit flashed them.

Patton gave a smile of encouragement at Virgil, one that could be interpreted as a ‘Trust me’ message. Given that Virgil backed down, he accepted it and allowed the others to take over.

Logan, who had been watching Deceit the whole time, finally spoke up. “What made you appear now? You could’ve done it to Thomas at any point,” He brought a hand up to his face, which was showing how deep in thought he currently was. “But why now of all times? What prompted you at this occasion?”

Deceit matched his gaze before shrugging it off. “I don’t have a reason, why would I need to at all?” Another lie, Deceit was getting bored, and the slightest bit lonely. The others weren’t as fun. “Besides, I knew how much all of you missed me.” His voice dripped with sarcasm, giving off a crooked grin as he did so.

Roman scoffed but had to bite his lip to say nothing bad, trying to hold firm to what he promised Patton. Virgil just rolled his eyes in disgust and Logan put a bored look on his face. Patton, oddly enough, didn’t say anything. Deceit hated how unpredictable he could be sometimes.

“And I see you all haven’t changed a bit, outside the new outfits.” Deceit could see how much each of them had grown over the years, but putting them down is what his heart desired, so that’s exactly what he began to do. “Virgil is still a scary cat, hiding behind others,” Anxiety flinched, glancing towards Patton, who he was literally hiding behind. “Roman is just as bold, stupid, and ultimately useless as ever,” Prince wrapped his arms around himself, shrinking down but trying to pretend it didn’t hurt as much as it did.

His eyes glazed over Logan. “Oh, and of course we have Logan, who’s dull, colorless, and devoid of all and any emotion,” Logic had an interesting response. His face blanked, and then finally tore his eyes away from him, finally refusing to meet his eyes, though Deceit could see the sudden emptiness inside of them. When he turned to Patton, a frown was already on his face. “And who could forget good old Patton, whose childish antics make him unable to take anything seriously.” Morality didn’t even flinch, the same expression on his face as he glanced at the others. Deceit did find it weird that the insult didn’t seem to affect him in the slightest.

Deceit crossed his arms and leaned back in the guest chair. A smirk played on his face. “Don’t try telling me I’m wrong, you know I don’t speak the truth much but that was a case where I did.” The words slipped out of his mouth with ease, slapping all of the others in the face.

Roman finally twitched in anger. “OH SHUT UP YOU-! YOU-!” He fumbled for words in his anger before spitting out, “SNAKE FACE!” His eyes blazing with anger, and if you knew were to look, insecurity lied within them as well. “Like you’re one to talk anyways, you’re just as rude as ever! You haven’t changed one bit!”

Deceit rolled his eyes, brushing off his comment. “Don’t need to change perfection~” He sang, getting a glare.

Virgil started to hum frustratingly, fiddling with the side of his jacket. “I knew you wouldn’t be civil.” He mumbled, though his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. “You’ve always been this way. Doesn’t it bother you? How you never change? Always the same cycle of lies and hurt until you have to run away like always.”

“It’s a tactical retreat.” Deceit countered. “And lies don’t hurt, the truth does. Lies protect you from the dark reality that is this world.” A half truth. Yes, of course they did, but another part of him thought differently. He always ignored that part of him.

“Falsehood.” Logan finally snapped into focus, his voice strained with what sounded like anger. His eyes narrowed at the yellow eyes. “Lies provide what feels like a nice cushy landing, but so often hide the importance of the truth. Something that the likes of you would never understand.”

“Oh of course, because I’d never understand anything outside of my lies.” Deceit mocked, then narrowed his eyes on all of them. Patton was looking down, a hand to his temple, and his expression hidden. “All of you keep acting so high and mighty, but you’re all nothing! Thomas doesn’t need any of you! All you ever do his waste his time with your meaningless existence and get into fights, further complicating anything he could be productively doing and overall being a complete and utter nuisance to-”

**_“THAT’S ENOUGH!”_ **

Everyone flinched, half out of shock, but also because of who managed to scream with such fury. Deceit shut his mouth once Patton lifted his head, his once warm eyes now deadly.

While Roman and Virgil both stared and did a double take, Logan simply sat back. His face told two similar stories: One, that he had seen Patton act like this before, and the other, that he was expecting it to happen. In fact, he seemed more surprised that it didn’t happen sooner.

Patton took a shaky breath in, trying to hide his anger, but doing a terrible job of it. _“Now listen here,”_ His voice was trying to keep its normal tone, but instead the words were iced over. His eyes never swayed from Deceit, who still held the shock, for not even he could predict this to happen. _“I tried to be nice. I gave you this chance to come here and make amends. I thought you could be like Virgil, and cooperate with us like he is, while still keeping true to himself but,”_ He clenched his jaw, stifling a chuckle that sent a chill down even Virgil and Roman’s spin.

_“You really just want to be a pain in the butt, huh? Don’t want to change for anyone.”_ Patton forced himself into a relaxed position, but his attitude didn’t change in the slightest. He kept edging his voice like he was trying to keep the anger out. _“I told you to be civil, and we all kept our word on doing the same, but you just keep pushing and pushing our buttons.”_

Virgil and Roman were having a silent conversation, freaking out to each other from just looks. Logan just watched, waiting for something that none of them knew about. Deceit kept adjusting his gloves, doing anything to keep himself from knowing how scared he was of the once friendly face. _This,_ He realized, _Is why Patton is the most unpredictable. Why he unnerves me._ Then he pushed the thought out of his mind like he did with anything that made him uncomfortable and lied to himself.

Patton wasn’t done. _“You can insult me all you want, I know I’m childish.”_ He admitted, though for calling himself a child, he sure didn’t sound like one. _“But the second you do the same to the rest, like you were doing, I draw the line. I didn’t want it to be like this, but you leave me no choice.”_

Patton leaned forward. Deceit suddenly wished that Patton didn’t sit the closest to him. _“You want to talk like that to others? Well then remember the golden rule, because I think you’re a living piece of human garbage.”_

Virgil’s eyes widen in shock and Roman covered his mouth, a similar expression on his face. Logan did flicker his eyes, but still said and did nothing. Patton could fight his own battles.

_“All you do is pretend to be all that is good and perfect in the world but you’re more toxic than any trait Thomas has. Ever wonder why your face is half snake? Because you are one. You can’t afford to be real because of how scared you are, and then you hide all of that under a veil of false confidence. I think that deep down, you know that you’re not needed and everyone would be fine without you, you son of a-”_

That’s were Logan stepped in, putting his hand on Patton’s shoulder, and finally made him tear his eyes away from Deceit, and to him instead. “You can stop now.” Logan told him in a soft voice. “Don’t go to far. Remember what I said last time, breath in for four seconds,” Patton did as he was told. “Hold for seven… Then out for eight.”

As soon as Morality was finished, his eyes returned to their normal tone, though the warmth of them was still taking a while to kick in. “There we go. Better?” He still said nothing, but did give a half nod. Logan gave him a reassuring smile. “Good.” His eyes turned back to Deceit as Patton laid back in his chair, breathing deeply. Virgil recognized Logan’s trick for the same thing he used to calm down, which only made him more concerned for what just happened to Patton. Roman’s mouth was hanging open, staring at Patton, and suddenly wanted to be extra nice to him, just to make sure he’d never be on the end of his fury.

Logan cleared his throat. “Is that enough for you?”

Deceit crossed his arms to keep him from flinching. “No.” He said through gritted teeth.

His lie was quickly seen through, and Logic let out a long exasperated sigh. “Can you please just stop lying for five seconds?”

That, combined with Patton’s spat, was all it took for Deceit to snap. “Oh sure,” He said in the most sarcastic tone he could muster. “Because I can stop lying just as easily as I can stop breathing! Because we can all stop being ourselves! You can stop being logical! He can stop being emotional! Those two can stop being creative and anxious, it’s all so easy to do, and never has any negative effects on us, or Thomas!”

Logic blinked in surprise, as did the rest of them. As Deceit began to babble on, they began to see something new. There was a secret sentence within everything he said, a truth that went unsaid. Everything he said was a lie, so finding the opposite, and that’s what he was trying to say.

“Of course I never do anything for Thomas! You are so right, I’m only ever doing things for myself. Sugar coating just makes everything so messy and should just be cut out entirely!” Deceit bellowed.

But the others found what he was really trying to say. _“I’m just as important as the rest of you, and I do help out Thomas. I make the world seem brighter than it is, and without me, he’d find it so hard to find hope.”_

“All of you totally get me, I’m just a hopeless cause!”

_“You don’t understand me, don’t act like you do. I’m not all black and white.”_

“Because lying is just something I manipulate at will, and thus, I must be a terrible person.”

_“It just happens, I don’t know how to stop, I’ve tried. I lie to myself then cover it up. I’m trying to be a good person.”_

“Everything is just so crystal clear to me!”

_“I don’t know what I’m doing.”_

“You insults mean nothing to me, I don’t care!”

_“They hurt so much, I wish I didn’t care as much as I do.”_

“And for the record, I love my job!”

_“I wish I could be somebody else.”_

“LYING IS GOOD!”

_“I don't know if lying is good, I'm programmed to do this.”_

“And so am I!”

_“I don’t like myself...”_

When he was done, the room was silent. He hadn’t fooled a single person, but told himself that he did. Virgil’s eyes echoed with pain but didn’t break eye contact. Roman switched between looking at Deceit, and checking up on Virgil and Patton. Logan found himself struggling with feelings, particularly those of guilt. Patton’s expression was hidden.

Before any could fall, Deceit wiped his eyes quickly and resumed to normal. “Are you… Crying?” Roman asked hesitantly what everyone else was thinking.

“No!” Deceit snapped. “Just something in my eye.”

“Well I am!” Deceit jumped as Patton lifted his head, eyes full of glistening tears and a heavy frown on his face. “That was so sad! You don’t like yourself? I’ll fight you!” He tried to say it aggressively, but his sadness was overwhelming and it just came out blubbery.

Logan sighed. “Every single time… Just let him get it out, he’ll be back to normal in a minute or so, this is good for him.”

Patton said something through his sobbing that sounded along the lines of, ‘I got a lot of feelings’ to which Logan nodded. “I know, Patton. Can’t exactly ask you to be different.” His eyes flicked to Deceit, who was holding his composure. “I can’t ask that of any one of us.”

“Hey.” Virgil drew attention to him, then shrunk down a little when he had it. “Listen, I know that traits like us have a more darker meaning to them, but we don’t have to be all bad. And you don’t need to lash out when you feel outnumbered or unwanted. Just… Work with us.”

“Maybe,” Roman gave the best smile he could muster. “Lying can be good? Just a little bit?”

Deceit gave them all a look, his arms crossing. “I didn’t need that.” He denied, but all knew what he was really saying was ‘Thank you’.

Logan spoke up again. “We have seemed to have gotten sidetracked. We originally brought you here so we could discuss our previous encounter and negotiate that something like it won’t happen again… Can we trust that?”

“No.” Deceit said.

Logan gave a smile, now comfortable knowing that he just had to flip it to get the true answer. “Satisfactory. And perhaps the others have a point to some matters. You still are a part of Thomas, and even if we are thrown off by your trait, you do have a certain value and protection for Thomas. Perhaps we can learn to work together. While I do prefer the truth,” he took in a breath. “Lies do have a use as well.”

“I don’t smell a lecture coming.” Deceit sighed, leaning back.

Logan ignored him, and Roman, who was groaning a little. “Lies do provide something I didn’t see before. The outside world is full of many dangers: Ruthless killers; natural disasters; toxic people-” Virgil began to nervously play with the strings of his hoodie. Logan gave him a ‘Sorry’ look before going on. “But lying about that can allow Thomas to feel less scared and more confident about what he’s doing. Not to mention that sugar coating is a type of lying that has many purposes.”

“Basically, we’re saying you’ve got a part to play with us.” Roman cut in. “And no theatre is complete without a well dressed and stunning character to sweep audiences off their feet. Ooo! You can be our own Phantom, you already have the whole half a face thing going on!”

”And if you need any tips about all of this,” Virgil added, shrugging. “I can try my best to help. Not promising they’ll be useful tips but I’ll try.”

Patton wiped his eyes. “I’m good, I’m good now.” He cleared his throat. “Just _never say those things again to them_ and we’ll get along just fine!” Patton switched emotions faster than anyone could register. “I’m sorry I snapped, I didn’t want to!” His eyes shined with sincerity, something that deeply terrified Deceit.

“Oh it’s fine, I wasn’t phased.” Deceit answered carefully, finding himself a little on edge but kept brushing it off, repeatedly telling himself that he was okay.

“If you’re willing to,” Logan caught everyone’s attention again. “We might be able to work things out. If you’ll be willing to join us?”

Deceit stared at all of them for a while, taking in each of their expressions, and the hope in their eyes. “Sounds like a terrible idea.” They were taken aback at first, before adjusting to the fact that he was deceit.

Deceit stood up, stretching his limbs as he spoke. “This was a complete waste of my time and I won’t ever come back here or to Thomas in the future.” He stated, lying through his teeth before walking towards the door and gave them all a wink. “I hate all of you, don’t ever talk to me again.”

Then he was gone. Each of the sides all gave each other looks, varying from hope, to amusement. If they played their cards right, Deceit could become a new ally, or as Patton corrected, a friend.

Deceit found himself conflicted. He wasn’t a fan of opening up to people, and he knew that they would definitely want to, but he did enjoy the attention he got, and actually showing himself to Thomas was priceless in so many ways, the main being that maybe Thomas could see him for something else.

After all, Virgil was once considered a darker side, but Thomas helped him out. True, Deceit might have to go against his natural instinct and tell a few truths- the mere thought of it made him sick to his stomach, but it might be beneficial. Thomas could help him gain stability, more than he had before. But he’ll also have to open up a little…

_That'll be easy._ Deceit told himself


	2. Hope (And Other Lies)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a nearby robbery of a store, Thomas tries to make a video about keeping hope. However, it doesn't go as planned.
> 
> Or In Other Words, Logan and Deceit butt heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little Note Ahead of time, I wanted to see if I could write this chapter as if it were a video, so not only is Thomas adding in things like introducing them, but it's just kinda that format. Hopefully it doesn't go horribly

**_Third Person_**  
Deceit had to admit that after all that had happened, he decided to stay away and isolate himself for a while.

The other traits- even Virgil- could provide so much light and Deceit didn’t feel quite right being around them. He was used to sinking in the darkness and silencing them when they tried to say certain things.

So, for around a week or so, he didn’t keep track, Deceit just allowed him to be himself. No strings attached. 

It would’ve been longer if he didn’t get indirectly summoned to Thomas’ side.

\---

“So for today’s video,” Thomas started out, providing a warm smile. “I’m going to discuss hope. For anyone who saw the news, you might be able to guess where I got this from.”

Before he could continue, Logan found himself in his usual spot. “Thomas, if I may, not all our viewers actively watch the news, therefore, you are excluding and perplexing those who have no idea what you are referring to.” Logan fixed his glasses as he spoke. For some reason, they always got tweaked when he rose up, which while irritating, was an easy fix.

Thomas shot a little smile as soon as he saw Logan. He had a feeling he’d come as soon as he started to speak. “Yes, Logan, I was just getting to that, and while we’re at it, this is Logan, my logical side.” Logan nodded as Thomas introduced him.

“Introducing me to new viewers,” Logan observed. “Valid choice.”

“Thanks,” Thomas kept smiling before addressing the matter at hand. “Anyways, so in case some of you didn’t know, there was a whole incident close to where I live, and without going into too many details, some people died.”

“Can we please talking about anything else?” Thomas nearly jumped out of his skin when Virgil popped out of nowhere, shivering to himself. “I just got over getting outside after hearing about that, I’d rather not talk about it.”

Thomas huffed in relief as soon as he saw it was just him. “Virgil, we really need to put a bell on you.”

“I don’t follow, why would a bell be beneficial to him?” Logan questioned, frowning in confusion.

“Because our little Virgil is just the cat’s _meow!”_ Patton popped up, wearing the same cat hoodie that Logan had made for him. Already, he was beaming with the usual joy he normally had. Virgil’s eyes lit up upon seeing him.

Logan groaned. “No, we’re not doing this right now.” Never could he get used to his puns, though he was glad that Patton appeared to have fully recovered since they spoke to Deceit. Even if he acted like it, Logan could tell that indulging into his anger did set him off.

“Don’t you mean we’re not doing this right meow?” He snickered to himself, and even got a snort from Virgil and a grin from Thomas. Logan sighed, crossing his arms but decided not to comment out loud.

“Right- everyone, in case you haven’t met them yet, this is Virgil, my anxiety, and Patton, my morality.” Thomas gestured to the two parts of him to the camera. “Which means we should probably introduce Roman since-”

Before he could finish, Roman popped up with a grin. “I knew you couldn’t stay away from me for too long. Hello everyone, it is I, your favorite Prince Roman, Thomas’ creativity.” Roman gestured to himself, already knowing he looked as great as he did moments before when he was combing his hair in the mirror. As soon as he sparked Thomas’ idea for a video, he already knew he needed to get camera ready.

“Great,” Logan found himself straightening his tie as he spoke. “Now that we’ve that over with, we need to get back on point. The robbery.”

Virgil let out a low whine but covered his mouth. Panic rose to his throat, but he shushed it down with anything he could, including controlled breathing. “Once again, I’d rather we talk about something else.” Virgil said, voice straining now.

Thomas grimace a little but straightened out. “I know you didn’t react well to it being so close to home, but we can’t just act like it doesn’t exist. We need to face our fears so we can deal with them better.” Logan nodded in agreement, though kept a close eye on Virgil.

“And we’re fine now! Joan and Talon were kind enough to bring us groceries so we didn’t have to go out.” Patton pointed out, doing his best to reassure Virgil. “We’re safe, robberies don’t happen that often, and certainly not armed ones.”

Thomas nodded, smiling brighter. He knew Patton would be perfect for helping him get his point for the days video. “Which is exactly why we to keep hope-”

“That’s actually not quite true.” Logan cut in, unable to hold back from spilling his knowledge. “They do happen more often that you think, and robberies from stores only account for 6% of robberies known to police. Not to mention 20 year olds are known to have a 72% chance of being robbed, and the chance of them being in an armed robbery-”

“Stop!” Virgil covered his ears, groaning. Holding back the more intense anxious thoughts became tougher. “You’re not helping!”

Logan blinked. “Sorry, but I’m just telling the truth here.” He kept his voice soft, but felt a hint of confusion. _The truth normally comforted people, and I thought Virgil said the truth was better than a lie? Am I missing something?_ But deep down, another voice told him, _He’s fine, you’re doing the right thing._

Now Roman and Virgil didn’t get along much, but he still felt sympathy for the anxious trait as he noticed how he was feeling. Thinking to himself, he came up with an idea. “Well, if it’s just that high, there’s a very simple solution you’re not seeing. Just carry a sword at all times, like I do.” Roman pulled his sword out, causing Thomas to back up. “Nobody has ever robbed me.” He smiled, hoping maybe this would make sense.

“Whoa! Back up there, Princy! I am not carrying a sword at all times, people will just think I’m crazy! That’s almost as bad as carrying a gun, and I do not want to use that!” Thomas protested, holding his hands up in defense.

Roman rolled his eyes. “Fine, but you’re missing a quick solution here.” He put his sword away and grumbled to himself. He spared a look at Virgil, wondering if he helped at all.

“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure we’ll poke our eye out with that thing.” Patton winked.

“A Christmas Story, nice.” Roman complimented back. _Leave it to Patton to make me feel better._ He thought to himself.

“Okay, does anyone have any solutions that don’t involve carrying any dangerous weaponry?” Thomas asked, looking around. His eyes searched for any of them to give him some sort of answer or input.

“What if we just stay at home all the time?” Virgil spoke up, messing with his hair. His body wanted to shut down but he fought to keep going.

“What?” Roman gave him a bewildered look. “How is he supposed to do anything then? How is he supposed to follow his dreams?” To Roman, this was out of the question. He even shuddered just thinking about it. He knew Virgil wasn’t take all of this well but he didn’t think he’d suggest that.

“And statistically speaking,” Logan added, glancing around. “Home robberies happen more than any other type of break ins, having 66% over everything else, not to mention that 7% are violent. Staying home is more dangerous.”

Virgil flinched, pressing his back against the wall. “Great, now you’ve ruined my safe place.”

Logan frowned. _Why… Why is Virgil getting worse? Why is it only when I’m speaking? I’m telling the truth, I shouldn’t be doing anything wrong._ Then it came again, a voice that felt… Foreign. _You’re doing nothing wrong._ “If your safe place isn’t actually safe, wouldn’t it be better to know that then to hide away pretending it is?”

Thomas hummed lightly as he was thinking. His mind was buzzing with so many thoughts, that it was difficult to piece it all together. He could feel all the parts of him thinking at once. “Logan, yes, that is true, but what Virgil is saying is that sometimes you don’t want to know the odds and pretend that it’s okay, because it’s much easier to calm down instead of thinking of the odds all the time. If you spend all your time thinking about what could happen-”

“Then you’d never have any fun!” Patton chimed in. With so much negativity, Patton started to feel like he was drowning, and being able to finally chip in tipped him back on the good feelings. “You’d be held back from enjoying yourself.”

“Yes, let’s not make Eeyore here anymore gloomy than he has to be.” Roman looked to Virgil to see how he liked his little nickname, and Virgil debated to himself before giving him a thumbs up in response. Roman brightened knowing that he appreciated it and made a mental note of it.

“So you’re just going to ignore the facts?” Logan gave him a look like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. _This contradicts what we were talking about last time!_

“I wouldn’t call it ignoring them. I’m trying to keep hope here.” Thomas quickly said. “I’m just not so sure that it’ll happen-”

He didn’t even get to finish his sentence before he was interrupted. “We’ll be fine, we have no need to be scared.” The newcomer said, and then paused. “Oh. Well I knew this would happen.”

Thomas whipped around in surprise, and found himself even more so when Deceit sat on the couch behind him. His yellow eyes glanced around to the other traits as they gaped in surprise. Thomas took a step back. “Deceit? I didn’t call you here.” Thomas couldn’t help but feel nervous after their last encounter.

“Yes, because you need to physically call our name to summon us.” He shot back, relaxing on the couch. Deceit wasn’t used to being there, but he found himself quite enjoying it. Even if Thomas was looking at him wearily, the attention was something he didn’t normally get.

Patton waved at Deceit once he broke out of his shock, and was the first to do so. Deceit humored him by waving back. Virgil watched him carefully, and the pair shared a look before his eyes moved to the prince. Roman seemed more conflicted than anything. Deceit fake smiled which did make Roman more comfortable, unable to spot anything wrong with it. He looked to Thomas once more, who was looking to the others, before finally moving to Logan.

Logan huffed, doing his best to hide his frustration. “You wanted to deny the truth so you indirectly called him here.” Logan couldn’t believe he had yet another person against his side. “Denial is another form of lying.”

“Logan, I can already tell that you’re so happy to see me.” Deceit smirked at him. “Didn’t you not say that we just need to do our job, regardless of what it is, to help Thomas?”

“Didn’t he not?” Virgil echoed, letting out an unimpressed chuckle. “You use every trick in the book to lie, even the cheap ones.”

“No I don’t.” Deceit nonchalantly added before moving on. “Thomas, he might be spitting facts, but they’re just facts. The odds of that happening to you out of everyone is still slim.”

Logan sputtered. “Wha- were you listening to a word I said? I-”

Patton jumped in before he could finish. “We’ve never been robbed before, and even if we do, a lot of home ones don’t have weapons-like you said, right, Logan?” Logan gave him a look but he continued. “We need to be optimistic! Planes are scary too but we’re always alright when we’re on them!”

“Exactly.” Deceit said in a soothing voice, one that almost made Thomas feel sleepy. “We have absolutely no reason to be afraid. The world isn’t that bad of a place, just think of all the nice people we’ve met and everything will be alright.”

Logan couldn’t believe his ears, but as he looked around, he became even more bewildered. Virgil was calming down, eyelids swaying and he looked just as sleepy as Thomas did. Patton had a smile on his face, humming happily, and Roman was similar to him, the thought of their friends and people they got to know over the years making the both of them smile.

But Logan didn’t feel much different, other than the fact that he was having a hard time speaking… Was that normal? “Thomas,” He struggled to even get the one word out, like there was a stronger will trying to shut him up. “Don’t be ignorant or you’ll get hurt.”

Thomas hesitated, but shook himself until he was fully awake. Logan felt slightly better than he did before but still restricted. “I’m not trying to be ignorant, I just-...” Thomas trailed off. Something felt off…

“You can’t go about thinking that the world is just… Sunshine and rainbows.” Logic found distaste in the words as soon as he said them. “Face the facts, this world is-”

Thomas flinched in surprise as Logan’s arm suddenly jerked up and his hand covered his mouth. His eyes soon went to the trait behind him, who’s fists were clenched. “That’s enough out of you. We don’t want to hear it.” Deceit spoke through gritted teeth.

Just like that, the illusion started to shatter. Patton’s smile faded as he looked to Logan. Roman got a sinking feeling and all his dreams drained away. Virgil’s eyes suddenly flew open as if he was being brought into a nightmare.

“Deceit!” Patton protested. “Didn’t we say to play nice?” His eyes kept flickering to Logan, feeling sympathetic and hating when he had to be silenced.

Deceit’s mouth twitched. “I didn’t do anything. Logan did that on his own.” He could feel himself slipping but refused to acknowledge it, stuffing it deep into his mind.

“You’re not fooling anyone, Pinocchio.” Roman rolled his eyes. He now found himself in a more bitter mood, though he didn’t know why. “I know that Logan needs to keep his mouth shut sometimes but here, we like to listen to everyone’s opinions.”

Virgil, who was more silent than ever, was conflicted. On one hand, he did like Logan and didn’t want him to be silenced- he knew too well what that felt like- but also all the truth about the world was getting to him. He didn’t feel as safe as before, and his already anxious thoughts were heightened. His breathing exercises were the only thing keeping him, and as an effect, Thomas, from having a panic attack.

Thomas looked between everyone, trying to piece his thoughts together before stopping at Deceit, determined. “Deceit,” He began. “Let Logan speak.”

Deceit struggled, his face twisting and frowning all at once. “I-I don’t…” Suddenly he stopped himself from saying anything more. _Don’t tell the truth, don’t let them in._ A deep urge whispered to him.

“I want to hear the truth.” That’s all he had to add before Deceit lost the little power he had left, and Logan tore his hand from his face, unable to suppress the glare that he sent towards Deceit. Deceit squirmed a little, though he tried his best to hide it.

Logan didn’t waste time talking. “Thomas, the truth is, the world is a scary place. Thousands of murders happen year after year, people are racist, sexist or homophobic, sometimes even all three. Accidents happen left and right,”

There was a hesitation as he went on. Virgil was beginning to bite his nails and his eyes squeezed shut. Logan felt something very wrong deep inside, but what was something he couldn’t figure out. A small and vulnerable part of him screamed that this was hurting Virgil, but a different part kept telling him that he should keep speaking. _There’s nothing wrong with what you’re saying._ It kept whispering to him, overpowering the hidden feelings he kept locked away.

~~Without either knowing it, Deceit was screwing with Logan’s thinking.~~

Logan kept going. “Natural disasters happen left and right, no one is truly safe in this world, a war is going on constantly, people get their dreams crushed,-”

Then he saw it in the others. Patton wasn’t looking as cheery and full of life as usual, Roman’s eyes were on the floor, all hope lost in them. When he looked at Thomas, he found his eyes were fixated on him, and only him. All of the normal warmth and kindness in his eyes were gone, and replaced with pure emptiness. No emotion, no hope. Absolutely nothing.

Ironically enough, it was just this that made Logan feel. He wanted to throw up just from feeling the sickening sweetness. All the despair, all of the guilt…

Then, he felt something he knew better: Anger.

Anger that was directed at who he could point his finger at.

When he turned to Deceit, he noticed something was very wrong with the trait. He was curling himself into a ball, covering his ears but he looked like he was in agony. His bowler hat had fallen onto the ground and he had torn off his gloves. The cape was half on him. 

But when Virgil was starting to take a similar balled up position, any sympathy he might’ve had was gone and replaced with burning rage once again. “What have you done to them? What are you doing?” He shouted at him, balling his fists.

Deceit tried to speak but he quickly covered his own mouth and squeezed his eyes shut. Patton was struggling with an unknown force, but some mix of watching how everyone was breaking apart made him shoot across the room, standing in the middle of a disoriented Logan and crumbling Deceit.

“Stop! Logan, what-” He looked back and forth between the pair, starting to pick up a connection. “The truth… Oh! Logan! I didn’t think of this! Logan, he’s Deceit!”

Logan’s wrath was suppressed by Patton, partially out of confusion. “That’s… We know that, Patton.”

Patton just shook his head more. “Lo, you’re not understanding what I’m saying! He’s Deceit! He’s Deceit like you’re Logic, don’t you get it?”

Logan paused. Patton’s sudden and more powerful presence stirred up a balance, and as ironically as that was, his very emotions made him feel more stabilized. As much as he hated emotions, there were small doses that did go through his mind from time to time. Ones that allowed him to feel concern for Virgil, annoyed at Patton’s puns, or perplexed at any slang Roman through his way.

And for a while there, Thomas only wanted the blunt truth, nothing else. Logan had unknowingly tuned out all emotions to give him that, and everything began to become upset, including Thomas himself.

But now it made sense. 'Deceit,' Patton kept telling him. 'He’s Deceit.'

Suddenly he understood what he meant.

“Hearing all of that is painful for him. Little doses are irritating but the hard truth of reality is too much…” Logan realized. “Just like too many emotions is for me, or too much logic for you and so on… Too much of one thing upsets the whole balance.”

He looked to the rest. To Virgil, who was a step away from falling off the edge; to Roman, who was sitting on the floor, staring ahead blankly; and to Thomas, who was trying to rebalance himself and snap out of the trance he was previously in.

“Reality can be frightening,” His eyes were first on Anxiety. “Or hopeless,” then Creativity. “And upsetting,” now they were on Morality, who did his best to smile. “And downright difficult to deal with.” They switched between Thomas and Deceit.

Logan now started to blink, realization coming to him. “I just kept telling myself that facts were everything because… That’s what I wanted to believe…” His eyes moved to Deceit, locking onto the yellow eyes. “Was it even Thomas that brought you here? Or was it me wanting to believe I was doing the right thing?”

Deceit opened his mouth but his voice strained and he had to close it again. Logan paused before he knew what he had to do. “All these things do happen… But they don’t have to happen to us.”

Deceit gasped for air, clearing his throat, before he was able to say anything. “That didn’t feel good at all.” He laid back, but not before snatching he hat off the ground and putting it back on. His breathing was out of control, but he forced it to slow down. “You’re so very harmless, Logic, I knew we’d get along.”

It took Logan a moment to reverse his words- he wasn’t quite used to how Deceit worked- but got the message. “I’m… Sorry. I was blinded by my own desires.”

“Which was entirely your fault. I can control who I effect and how with ease, so it wasn’t me.” Deceit began to put his gloves back on, avoiding eye contact.

Logan nodded slightly. “Thought so. I don’t think any of us can fully control our abilities and perks all the time. Sorry I attacked you like that.” His eyes moved to Patton, whose eyes beamed at him with pride. “Thank you, Patton.”

“Aww, it’s no problem, kiddo!” Patton grinned. “You pulled me out of a tough spot, it’s only fair I returned that favor! Besides, I know how easy it is to get carried away.”

Both Deceit and Logan shuddered, but for two different reasons. Deceit remembered Patton’s words from their last meeting, while Logan was about how he began to feel for a moment there. Mushy feelings… He hated those, they messed with his clear thinking.

Able to see clearly, Logan remembered the others, but when he looked around, they were all just the same. As he frowned, Deceit stepped forward, on his feet in an instant.

He approached Thomas’ side, and began to whisper in his ear, though everyone in the room could hear what he was saying.

 _“You have nothing to worry about.”_ He spoke softly, getting a stir from the others. _“The robbery was a once in a lifetime thing. We’re safe right where we are, and that won’t happen to us.”_

Virgil’s breathing slowed as he went on. _“All of those things we were told about- none of it matters. Because it happens, but who’s to say it will to us? We have no reason to worry.”_

As Virgil fully relaxed, starting to look sleepy again, the yellow eyes flicked to the other, currently on the floor. _“Dreams are achieved by everyone and anyone with the right attitude.”_ Roman perked up. _“It doesn’t matter who you are, you can be anything you want to be. A hero, a savior, it’s all within your grasp.”_

Roman shot up, new energy filling him with determination. Patton was next. _“There is hope in this world, it’s everywhere, filling it up to the brim. We don’t need to be so cynical.”_ Even if Patton seemed fine before, he was even better now.

Deceit locked eyes with Logan. _“We know the facts, and we can use them to stay safe.”_ Logan wasn’t sure if he liked the feeling Deceit was making him have, but he let it happen anyways.

_“We have nothing to fear, Thomas. We have hope.”_

Thomas only had to blink to appear much better than before. He smiled softly, then fully reverted back to himself as Virgil snapped back into his regular self. “Wha- what just happened?”

“Imbalance.” Logan adjusted his glasses again, though he didn’t know why. “My apologies, Thomas, I’ll try not to cause one again.”

Thomas looked around, lingering on Deceit before asking Logan more. “All those things he told me… Were they lies?”

Logan paused, sharing a look with Deceit before moving back to Thomas. “Not exactly, yes and no. They’re half truths, or as some call them, white lies.”

“So many people forget that Hope comes from me.” Deceit smirked. He rarely told the truth, but if it were to talk about his lying, he was willing to bare it. “Him too,” He nodded towards Patton, who was returning to his spot. “But still me. A tag team if you will.”

Thomas looked between all of them. Never had he suspected all this to happen but... It was a learning experience, he couldn't deny that. “This was an interesting video… I prepared this whole speech about even when things go wrong that you can’t just hide away and that’s there’s all this good in the world but… Looks like you guys covered it.” He let out a puff of air. “I really thought I’d have to use it-”

Thomas stopped his words when he noticed Deceit smirking even more. “Annnd that was you, of course it was. Well, that’s it everyone, thank you for that.”

As Deceit began to leave, Thomas quickly stopped him. “Wait! Deceit!” The trait paused and popped back up. “I just wanted to say thank you.” Thomas gave his best grin.

Deceit was caught off guard as he stuttered. Positive attention wasn’t something he was used to.“I… I don’t care about that, I did it for myself! This is the last you’ll see of me!” He shouted as he ducked out.

Thomas felt a warm feeling in his heart, and a hope that maybe he could get through to him.

The others all said their parts, and Thomas ended it all with his famous, “Until next time, take it easy guys, gals and non binary pals. Peace out!” Before stopping the video. He found himself still smiling, even several moments after he did so.

———————

Deceit groaned as he walked back into the darker parts of Thomas’ mind and settled down. Being summoned so suddenly wasn’t something he was used to, unlike the others. It exhausted him, but he told himself he’d get used to it.

“J, where have you been?”

Deceit jumped when he heard the voice, then sighed when he saw the messy hair of his fellow dark trait. “You didn’t scare me at all.” He mumbled. “It was nothing.”

The one who spoke paused, leaning against the doorway of the room. “Summoned?” He guessed, getting a nod. “Huh… How was that?”

“Terrible.” Deceit yawned, stretching. “Did you miss me?” He joked, smiling as he did.

Like always, he remained with a straight face. “Why do you ask that question if you know the answer?” His voice was as monotone as ever. “The others certainly did as well. We both know how they can get.”

Deceit nodded, sitting up. “Not like I care, but all of you alright?” He shrugged and gave a half hearted nod. “How devastating. I’m not going to check on them.” Deceit stood up and began to walk past him.

Then he asked something. “The brighter sides… What are they like? I can’t care to remember.”

Deceit paused. “...They’re… Boring. Predictable. I don’t feel anything for them.”

He nodded along, easily deciphering his words for what they really meant. “I can help if you need to stop-“

Deceit stopped him quickly. “I’m fine.” He insisted. Then nudged him. “Get some rest, A. You bags aren’t obvious.”

He just shrugged. “I don’t feel like sleeping.”

“I don’t care. Get some.” Deceit ordered sharply, narrowing his eyes. 

His eyes studied the yellow ones. “Hm. Fine. I don’t feel like arguing. You don’t need to take care of me.”

“I wouldn’t need to if-“ Deceit covered his own mouth before he spilled truth and huffed. Tearing it off, he avoided the sentence completely. “Just get some rest.”

He sighed as the yellow eyed trait left. The gray eyes glazed over the room, then walked over and flopped on the couch. “You’re the man, J.” He mumbled, before drifting to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Cracks knuckles* Ready for some notes?
> 
> Deceit can indirectly effect the others, which I think I did mention last time, but this time it makes Logan unable to stop. To make him think he's saying the right things, and essentially messing with his more emotional logic, otherwise he would've seen that Virgil was uncomfortable and stopped long before. Though Logan doesn't have a lot of emotions, he does have some subtle ones. He counts them more chemicals in his brain than anything.
> 
> Deceit literally uses anything he can to lie. Anything.
> 
> Deceit's lies have a very soothing effect on most of the traits, but Logan is mostly unaffected because he's trying to get the facts straight. Patton wants to believe it, Virgil feels safer with it, and Roman is boosted by it, but Logan? He doesn't get much out of it.
> 
> Roman is trying to be better to Virgil. Virgil appreciates this.
> 
> Deceit's gloves come off because gloves symbolize lies and covering something up and such, and they are taken off when Logan is telling the truth, but come back on when Deceit goes back to normal.
> 
> Too much truth, mainly the painful truth of reality, was too much for Deceit, which is why he freaks out a little.
> 
> Truth is reality is scary, but sitting around and thinking about it doesn't help anyone, certainly not yourself. At the same time, hope is kinda a bit of a lie, because you have no idea if things are going to be okay, but it's the wanting to believe that powers it. Funny, huh?
> 
> Thomas doesn't fully trust Deceit yet, but he's starting to feel a little better with him around, much like how he didn't feel comfortable with Virgil at first either. Not to mention the others are getting used to him as well, but they'll come around.
> 
> Deceit has a talk with someone... Who could they be, and why do they keep calling him 'J'? And why does Deceit have a need to take care of them?  
> I guess that'll be for a later date...
> 
> Hopefully this turned out well, thank you for reading!


	3. I Don’t Care (Wishful Thinking)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deceit and Virgil admit to knowing each other in the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang this was overdue but it’s finally done! Technically the actual writing was done a week or so ago but testing distracted me from editing until now butttt enjoy!

_**Third Person**_  
Thomas was having trouble explaining how he felt. 

It was going to be an average night of staying up watching Parks And Rec all over again before passing out at an unreasonable time, but as he hovered over the play button, he frowned.

Nearly all week, he kept having little moments where he’d suddenly feel angry or bitter at something so trivial. Like Joan forgetting their wallet when they went out to eat so Thomas had to pay- which didn’t happen that often to begin with-, or Talon accidentally breaking a plate when they knocked it over- and Thomas had plenty of those anyways- and even a stranger bumping into him, which he barely even stumbled.

Normally, Thomas would’ve shrugged all those things off, because none of it mattered and he prefered not to get mad if he didn’t need to. But a deeper force was more unforgiving, and didn’t want to let go, telling him it did matter.

And now, he was stuck thinking about how the takeout he got not too long ago was out of ice cream, and feeling the bitterness creep up on him was finally enough for him to do something about it. It wasn’t just a bad day, or even bad week, something was off.

Naturally, Thomas called the people he knew would help out best figuring out what it was. “GUYS!” He called, hoping he could get one of their attention, if not all. “Logan, Patton, Virgil, Roman-” Thomas hesitated for a moment, but relaxed himself. “Deceit too, everyone, I need help!”

As one by one some began to appear by his side, but Thomas was puzzled at the lack of two of the traits. Patton sat right next to him, grinning, wearing his cat onesie, and already getting comfortable. Virgil sat on the floor of the couch Thomas sat on, leaning up against the table and looked irritated, his hood up and headphones on. Deceit was on his other side, though gave him more personal space then Patton did, and tapped his fingers together. 

Thomas waited, but when neither of the others appeared, he had to ask. “Where’s Logan and Roman?”

Before any of them could say anything, Logan was dazed on the floor nearby Virgil. “I-I’m here… Thomas… Edison. Invented the light bulb in 1879 though-” Virgil arched an eyebrow at him as he slurred his words and seemed to have a silent conversation while doing so. His headphones were now off, as was his hood.

Thomas stared, more concerned for Logan now. “Uh, what’s up with him? Logan? Are you feeling okay?”

Logan’s eyes fluttered. He tried to get up but stumbled, and hastily caught by Virgil, who steadied him. “Okay. Variation of the word OK, which while has a unsure origin, possibly comes from the word ‘oll korrect’ a comical misspelling of the phrase ‘All correct’ created way back in-”

“He’s a little pooped out.” Patton cut in, turning to Thomas. “Not feeling so swell after last night.”

Thomas wracked his mind for information. “Last… Night… Oh!” He snapped his fingers. “You mean the trivia night?” Then it clicked in head. “Oh… That did get pretty intense.”

“You overworked him, not to mention planning your videos beforehand, and finally catching up on all the work you procrastinated,” Virgil shrugged his shoulders. “He snapped. Give him a break and he’ll be fine.”

“Fine. A sum of money owed.” Logan mumbled under his breath.

Thomas sighed and nodded at him to retreat. Logan took a moment to process it before he was gone. “Alright, well what about Roman? Did I over exhaust him too?”

Virgil snickered. “Nah, you just lost the Trivia tournament and he’s upset because he got his hopes up. Give him a while, he’ll come around. Just broken pride.”

Thomas kept nodding. “So it’s just you three? Well, I guess you guys are the best people to help me out.” He searched around before remembering Patton was right next to him. “Patton, you’re my emotions, why am I getting so frustrated?”

Patton frowned, pausing for a long while. “Gosh Kiddo, I wish I knew, but it’s not me! I’ve been wondering myself! I thought it was just one of you guys in a bad mood.” He looked to Virgil, though he shook his head.

“I’ve been feeling better than usual, it’s not me.” Virgil gestured towards his headphones. He’d been listening to books all yesterday, he felt just fine.

Which, by process of elimination, left one trait left. All eyes turned to Deceit, and realized he had been quiet that whole time.

Deceit was staring at his gloves like he hadn’t been listening the whole time. Something told them all that he was, and his eyes didn’t meet any of the others.

“Deceit?” Thomas caught his eyes glancing up at him. “Are you angry at anyone?” He asked uncertainty.

Deceit paused. “No.” He said, then his eyes darted somewhere else for a moment that Thomas didn’t catch.

Patton frowned. He had learned to pick up on listening for the opposite of what he said. “Deceit, what’s wrong? You gotta talk to us!”

“I’m fine.” He said insistently. His yellow eyes then narrowed on everyone else, lingering on some more than others. “I’m sure all of you care so much about how I’m feeling.”

Virgil locked eyes with him for a moment before tearing them away. Thomas and Patton both only frowned deeper. “I know I haven’t been as welcoming as I’d like,” Thomas began. “But you do matter to me! You’re just as important as everyone else. I’m just getting used to having you around.”

Deceit’s eyes flickered over to Virgil again, the pair having a silent conversation. “I’m sure I matter just as much as everyone else.”

Virgil was going to say something in return, and Patton was bubbling with all sorts of emotions, but Thomas stopped both of them. Deceit wasn’t even glancing in his direction anymore. ...Is he still talking to me, or is he directing it to someone else? Thomas realized.

“Virgil, Deceit... Do you two know each other?” He asked hesitantly.

Virgil looked to Thomas and back. “Well yeah, we all know him, we met him in person not too long ago.”

Patton caught on. “You’re dodging the question, Kiddo.” He had the best reassuring smile he could give flashing in the anxious trait’s direction. “You can tell us anything, we won’t judge!”

There was a long pause before Virgil let out a huff. “Yes, we knew each other before he revealed himself. On a personal level.”

“Personal.” Deceit clicked his tongue. “It’s not at all interesting that you say that.”

Virgil blinked but ignored him and went on. “Before you started to summon me, directly or indirectly, I was with the darker traits. Deceit runs the show with them, he’s the big, bad boss.”

“A boss? Glad to know I meant so much to you.” 

Virgil faltered, now more unsure that he knew Deceit. Thomas looked between the two, a mix of interest for learning more, and sympathy for what might be going on in their minds. Patton however, did not take the silent or subtle approach.

“You poor baby! Are you hurting inside?”

“Wha- Hey! I know exactly what you’re doing!” Deceit shouted, but couldn’t stop him as Patton climbed over to his side of the couch and latched onto him like a koala. Deceit tried to shake him off, but found a surprising strength to him. He huffed, giving up. “I am loving all of this physical touching.”

Patton either didn’t pick up on the sarcasm or didn’t care, and only held on tighter, staring up at him. “You are loved and appreciated.” He whispered, getting a weird look out of Deceit. “Your feelings are validddd.” He droned the words out for more effect.

Deceit wasn’t used to such affection and briefly short circuited before snapping out of it, telling himself he hated it all and refused to look at Patton’s soft gaze.

Thomas finally asked a question that was on his mind. “So Virgil, you were a dark trait, right?.” Virgil shrugged his shoulders but nodded. “What happened when you started coming over to us? With the others?”

Virgil thought to himself, then sent a glare to Deceit. “He messed with me. Didn’t like me laughing at Patton’s jokes or hanging around you so much or any of the others. We had a fight and I left. We haven’t see each other since.”

Thomas nodded, but to everyone but Patton’s shock, looked to Deceit. “What’s your side of the story?”

“I just told you what he did!” Virgil’s voice rised, now forgotten bitterness rising in his voice. Thomas silently wondered if it was Virgil’s unfinished business that was setting him off. “He screwed around with me because he wanted all the attention to himself!”

“Do you really think so little of me?” Deceit surprised even himself, then brushed it off with a laugh, hiding his vulnerability behind a cloud of snark and sarcasm.

“Deceit.” Thomas gave a smile and tilted his head to catch his gaze. “What’s your side of the story?”

Deceit paused. “It doesn’t matter, Virgil got almost all of it right anyways.”

“It matters so much, Virgil only got little bits right.” Was what everyone else started to hear. Patton only increased his hug and mumbled encouragement that only Deceit could hear. Deceit tried to pretend he couldn’t hear him but briefly bit his lips.

Virgil stared at him a little longer, narrowing his eyes. “What do you mean I’m wrong? What did I get wrong?”

“Nothing.” Deceit insisted. “I don’t care.”

“Why do you keep saying that? You always say that, all the time!” Virgil’s fingers tapped on his headphones. 

“Because I don’t care! Never have! I’m supposed to care but I don’t!”

“Stop lying to me!” The anxious trait growled, now feeling much more irritated than before. What’s he hiding? What did I do? Was it me at all? What if- what if- what if- Virgil shoved his thoughts away. “I have a right to know!”

Deceit snapped.

“YOU GAVE UP THAT RIGHT WHEN YOU LEFT!” He roared. Suddenly all bitterness Virgil had was gone and Thomas, who previously thought the anger was from Virgil, now knew the truth. Patton didn’t let go.

Deceit’s breathing was ragged but he couldn’t stop suddenly. Emotions rose like a tidal wave and a raging storm threw off his rational thinking. “We didn’t know what you were- I didn’t know what you were when we discovered you. You dressed and acted like a dark trait but there was something so off, I couldn’t detect it. But I took you in, and I gave you a place to belong! The others were skeptical but I gave them hope that you could be one of us! You were! You were in our own little messed up family and you-!”

Deceit growled under his breath. “You threw it all away. I was fine when you visited Thomas and did your job but you were more invested in them than you were us! You upset half, plunged the other in a deeper hole than they already were and you didn’t even say goodbye to me! Do you know how that feels? To keep lying to yourself everyday that maybe you’ll come back to us and maybe you’ll be able to balance them and us and maybe, just maybe, we still meant anything to you, but know deep down inside that it’s all just another lie? Or how it hurt that maybe, you belong with them and that I’m supposed to give you up?”

Deceit sucked in another breath, then suddenly felt very sick to his stomach. Virgil was wide eyed and Thomas gaped. Deceit’s heart was seized with terror that all of that spilled out of his mouth and not one of it was a lie. How could this happen? I’m always so careful what changed? What-

Deceit’s wandering gaze finally locked eyes with the answer to all of his questions. “What did you do?” He screeched, trying to shove Patton away. 

Patton barely budged, frowning even deeper. “I didn’t do anything! I’ve just been sitting here the whole time!”

“No, no, no! You did something- still doing something! Where’s my filter? Why aren’t a lying? What did you d-!” Deceit stopped himself in the middle of his demanding and stared at his hands. They were gloveless.

Patton noticed too, and looked to his own to realize the pair of yellow gloves were in his grip. “Oh! Now how did those get there? So sorry, kiddo! I didn’t even know they were there!”

Deceit snatched them out of his grip and Patton finally laid back. “It’s your influence.” He spat back. “Morality, truthfulness- emotions- you somehow rubbed off on me.” He furiously messed with the gloves, trying to put them back on. He finally shoved them on, teeth gritting. “And don’t call me ‘Kiddo’, you heard Virgil, I’m the ‘Big, Bad, Boss’, remember?”

The anxious trait finally caught on. “That’s a lie.” All eyes turned to Virgil, and though he squirmed under the pressure, he managed to get out a sentence. “Logan’s reflection theory might be right…”

Thomas stared. “Reflection theory?”

“Ooo! I remember that!” Patton laughed. “Lo went on and on about it for days! It’s so funny seeing him get all passionate like that, it’s just like with space and the rainforest where listening to him talk about any of them makes you both get lost in what he’s saying and it’s so much more interesting!”

Virgil gave him a surprised look. “Pat, you actually remember all of it?”

“Well, of course! How could I forget?” Patton grinned. “Logan thinks for every light trait, there’s a darker trait to counter it. Like an Oreo, there’s a dark side, then some light stuff in the middle. He also believes that if you take away one trait, like taking away all of Thomas’ morality, you’d be left with a very extreme version of the counterpart, like having Deceit, but also no filter to go along with him. Like unfiltered coffee so there’s just a bunch of beans in your water and you don’t actually have coffee.”

Virgil paused, nodding slight. “Uh, yes that’s right… Interesting choice of analogies… Are you hungry?”

“Yes! How’d you know?”

Virgil stifled a laugh. “Lucky guess. Treat yourself, Pat. Good explaining.”

Patton shot up and rushed to the kitchen with a huge smile on his face. Thomas watched him leave. “Is it just me or whenever Patton has “Coffee”, it’s really just regular beans in hot water and in a mug?”

“It’s just you.” Mumbled Deceit, squinting his eyes as he watched Patton grab an alarming amount of regular beans from the cabinet, and then sugar. He had to refrain from gagging. “I’d love to have him cook for me one day…”

Virgil paused for a moment, then resumed to Deceit. “You’re avoiding the topic. You’re a reflection of Patton.”

“Ah, I totally understand everything you mean by that.” His yellow eyes glowed with sarcasm.

Virgil let out a soft grunt in annoyance. “You counter Patton, meaning for the dark traits, you’re exactly in his spot. You share a similar trait.”

“Oh yeah?” Deceit chuckled, straightening out his jacket. “And what would that be? Because Patton is the ‘Boss’ like me?”

Thomas blinked, starting to catch on what Virgil was suggesting. “No, he’s the Dad.” Deceit froze on the spot, words stuck in his throat. “Virgil, was he-?”

Virgil slowly nodded. “The more I think about it, yes, he was.”

Deceit sputtered. “I have no idea what you’re implying!”

“You said it yourself, you took me in and had the others accept me.”

“Lies!” Deceit desperately sputtered. “All lies! I don’t care about people! I’m selfish and I only ever look after myself! He’s a liar!”

“You were jealous of my deeper connection to the other traits,” Virgil narrowed his eyes at him. “That’s why you kept reacting so badly. Why you attempted to suppress my laughs. You were afraid I’d leave you all behind.”

“Which you didn’t. And I don’t regret anything I did or said.”

“You did, but I’m still sorry for the way I reacted.” Whispered in all of their heads.

“You didn’t communicate.” Thomas spoke up, getting all eyes on him. He looked between the anxious and deceiving trait. He understood what happened. “Virgil, you didn’t understand why Deceit was lashing out at you and Deceit, you didn’t say why. It could’ve all been avoided just through… Well,”

“A simple conversation about feelings.” Patton pipped in, smiling as he did. None of them knew at what point he changed into his regular clothes and ditched the cat onesie. He let out a short chuckle, shaking his head. “You guys always act like you know everything when in reality, you miss the simplest solutions. Gosh kiddos, had either of you told me earlier, I could’ve fixed this all up a long time ago!” Patton had a mug in his hand and now consumed some of the containments. 

Deceit and Virgil gave each other another look before stifling a laugh. Despite the fact that he could be quite thick skulled sometimes, Patton always saw the simple solutions or problems that nobody else considered.

Seeing as the feeling in his heart fully settles, Thomas sighed in relief. “I think we’ve settled this. Thank all of you for your help.”

All three of them brushed it off and retreated back to the mind. Virgil made a beeline for his room and slipped his headphones back on, but just as Deceit was strolling over into the darker corners, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Turning back, he saw the friendly face of Patton.

“This was completely predicted.” Deceit rose an eyebrow at him. 

Patton flashed a smile. “Hope I’m not bothering you, but I really needed to talk to you.” The smile wavered and there was a dark flicker in his eyes that made Deceit’s heart skip a beat. “Alone.”

Deceit had to restrain himself from running at that moment and just nodded. 

Patton’s grip on his shoulder suddenly began to crush down on him and he nearly yelped in pain. Patton’s grin had completely been wiped off his face and replaced with blazing anger that Deceit had only seen one other time.

 _“Don’t ever mess with my son again.”_ His voice was careful, reminding Deceit of a ticking time bomb. Deceit’s breath caught in his throat and his urge to make a run for it grew, though he doubted he’d make it far. 

So instead, he just tried to mask his fear as he stared into a pair of eyes that had a darkness that was too much, even for someone like Deceit, who normally dwelled in it.

Patton wasn’t done. _“Virgil, Roman and Logan- they’re all under my protection. You pull anything like that again, you’ll answer to me, and I’ll make sure that Logan won’t be around to stop me. Do I make myself clear?”_

Deceit now knew what Virgil meant when he compared them. He too would do some shady things to ensure his people were safe. 

Sucking in a breath, Deceit nodded and Patton released him. All of the previous anger slipped back under a blanket of smiles and bright eyes, and left Deceit wondering if it was ever there at all or if maybe he imagined it.

“Good!” Patton said chipperly. His eyes were now filled with hope. “I really do hope you can grow closer with all of us in the future, you seem like you can be a great guy!”

Patton turned and made his way back to his home, humming as he did. Deceit was once again reminded that though he might be a ‘Dark Trait’, that didn’t mean some of the others couldn’t act like one too.

————-

Deceit finally arrived at the dark side of the mind, revealing a similar looking house to the one the Light Traits lived in, outside of the obvious fact that it was shrouded in darkness.

He entered and pressed his back up against the door as he shut it. Just for a moment, taking deep breaths, he let his vulnerability show. Only for a moment. He told himself. Lies, lies, lies, he kept surrounding himself with them until he could barely even taste the truth in his mouth.

“You’re home.” The flat voice made his heart spike, but Deceit refused to look alarmed. He smoothed himself out and calmly turned in the direction the voice came from.

“A.” He greeted with a nod. “You look as well rested as ever.”

The messy haired man who he nicknamed ‘A’, just shrugged. “Didn’t see the point in sleeping. The others have been restless waiting for you to come back. You know how they are, J. Ever since… I don’t have to say it, do I?”

Deceit nodded his head. “Of course, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He made a start for the stairs, then hesitated. “I didn’t see him.”

The other blinked, slightly more interested than before but not by much. “Virgil?” He mumbled sleepily. “What’d you say to him?”

“Nothing.” Deceit sighed to himself.

“So a floodgate came loose?” He nodded slowly. “You always did have a soft spot for him… Then again, I guess you got one for all of us… Have you figured it out yet? With him?”

“I don’t know what he is. He’s still just like us.”

They blinked lazily, yawning as they did. “Hm. So you did after all. He’s just like them now. He’s a light.”

Deceit shook himself, knowing he had to visit the other two soon before they got out of hand. “Stay awake. Stay on the couch.”

“Can’t sleep and I don’t feel like moving.”

Deceit sent him a hardened look. “That was a choice. Stay where you are and I’m not going to do anything to help you sleep.”

Without another word, the snake faced trait marched up the stairs leaving the other one behind. He sighed, knowing that Deceit would pick him up and take him to bed himself if he didn’t move. He wasn’t so sure that was a bad thing, but chances are he’s get another passive aggressive lecture and he wasn’t in the mood for one of those.

He made his way up the stairs in his own time, and as he passed by one of the rooms, he could hear the talking.

“Of course I’m going to leave them for you guys, I like them so much better!” Deceit’s soothing voice was easy to pick out.

“I know you keep assuring us that but Virgil left, who’s to say you won’t like Princy better than me and leave me for him! Is it his hair? It’s his hair, isn’t it? I KNEW IT!” This one had a higher tone, and a voice that seemed on edge.

“Your worries are completely valid.” Deceit’s groan could be heard in his voice.

“Are they really better than us? HUH? I WILL FIGHT THEM, LET’S GO!” The second voice had a firmer tone and raised suddenly.

“I really don’t care about any of you and I’d leave in a heartbeat.” His voice became softer than before. 

All of them had gotten used to reversing whatever Deceit said that it became just second nature. They all knew what he was saying. His words made them pause to think.

They started talking again but quieter, and since it was too much effort for ‘A’ to listen, he shuffled to his room and plopped onto the bed.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed, he didn’t care to count, but eventually his door opened and in walked Deceit. “You’ve done a fantastic job of cleaning.”

“Mmm…” He considered responding properly but found himself too tired to care.

Deceit sat next to him, messing with his hair in an attempt to clean it up. “I’m not at all willing to help if you need it. I-!” 

Deceit cut himself off when he noticed that his friend had fallen asleep already. “That took a while.” He noted, then sat back and let his own eyes flutter closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go! Onto notes.
> 
> I believe I mentioned in the last chapter that traits can have influence over each other. Deceit makes some lie to themselves, Virgil makes them nervous, etc. Patton however, is not just Thomas’ Heart and can increase emotions, but also is Morality, truthfulness. He can influence Deceit, though it took both physical contact and time for it to kick in.
> 
> Also when Deceit has a brief moment of truth, Patton accidentally gets his gloves, which also was mentioned in the last chapter to represent lies and covering up. Symbolism, yayyyy
> 
> Mentions of Theories! The reflection one was already explained but the ‘Virgil was with the Dark Sides’ one was as well. In this, Virgil is technically a Light Trait, but since he looked, acted and seemed like a dark one, he was accepted by them rather than the Light. (Mainly because they couldn’t believe that Aniexty could ever be used for a good thing)
> 
> Patton AND Deceit are shown to be Mama Bears Because no one can stop me. Plus, they’re a reflection of each other.
> 
> Also Patton does want to give Deceit a chance, though he is very much protective over his own. Learning Deceit did such things to Virgil did not set well with him.
> 
> When Virgil mentions being silenced from laughing, he’s referring to the Q&A Thomas did with them
> 
> More Dark Traits are hinted, but I’m not gonna show them yet~
> 
> Traits can be exhausted like shown with Logan, but taking a break makes them recover pretty quickly. A small reference from when you work too hard and your mind being fried, y’get me?
> 
> I think that’s all I wanted to say! Sorry again that this is way late, I’ll try to update sooner next time!
> 
> Comments are very much encouraged and appeicated, I love reading through them and seeing what y’all thought!


	4. Dreams And Fantasy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman decides to have a nice relaxing dream by creating the perfect city! Everything is going as planned!
> 
> And then Deceit shows up.

**_Third Person_**  
Though Roman did get his pride hurt often, he always bounced back up.

Losing in things he invested his hopes in or failing at something he normally did well in caused an aching pain in his heart. Sometimes the pain was greater with each failure. All of the sides had some action that caused only them pain while sparing the others. Deceit’s was the cold hard truth, Patton’s was complete emotional rejection, and Roman himself had his pride.

Admittedly, since his pride was far bigger- and perhaps more sensitive- he was hurt more often than anyone he knew of, but he had many ups because of it too! Like his confidence that helped Thomas endlessly.

At that moment, Roman was getting over a trivia game that he got a little too intense in. Losing shook his confidence, but when Thomas fell asleep the day after, he brushed it off. He knew exactly what would cheer him up.

Each and every trait had abilities, and Roman’s favorite was his Dream Manipulation. His creativity allowed him to take Thomas’ memories and create whatever kind of dream he wanted. Most of the time. Sometimes after a scary movie, he lost control and a nightmare took over, but that was rare.

While the others rested in their respective rooms, Roman took control of the dreamscape. Normally it would create strange dreams on its own, but they became amazing once Roman shaped them.

Feeling adventurous, Roman shaped it into a castle on a cliff, taking memories of castles in Ireland Thomas had seen online or in movies, as well as a cliff side from a hike he went on years ago. 

Satisfied with the three storied castle, he put banners and decorations, then created a lush field all around it. A pathway to the castle had blooming flowers from both sides, including marigolds, roses and tulips.

Inside, Roman filled the castle with memories of Disney movies, including the many windows like Frozen but a great hall much like Sleeping Beauty.

When he reached the balcony, Roman was already buzzing with a million ideas on how to improve the dream. Friendly woodland animals began to fill up the fields. However, he frowned in confusion when he noticed a snake among them. It quickly turned to horror when the snake promptly devoured the bunny, that was supposed to be Thumper, in a swift attack.

“Oops.” Roman’s surprise turned to anger when he swiveled around and found the one who had to be responsible. Deceit, standing behind him and smirking. 

“How dare you!” Roman growler at him. “I was getting the perfect Disney settling ready for a spectacular dream and you come in here and-...” Roman faltered, processing everything that was going on. “Wait… How did you get here? I thought I was the only one who could manipulate dreams.”

Deceit’s eyes danced with amusement. “Of course, you’re the only one. Definitely not the guy who thrives on what’s not real.”

Roman paused for a long while, a part of him knowing it made sense but another groaning at the thought of a Deceit getting to control and probably ruin his vision.

Eventually, he couldn’t do much about it. Huffing, he turned away from him. “Fine, just don’t mess with my stuff.”

“Your wish is my command.” Deceit sang, twitching with laughter. 

Roman narrowed his eyes, but the yellow eyes didn’t waver in the slightest. Turning his back, he began to create a town near the castle. For a moment, he got lost in the architecture and the way it looked so perfect. There was a reason why this was what Roman did when he was upset or feeling down, it always required his focus and creating things always boosted his self esteem. 

The moment passed when something boomed above him, and before he could even look up, rain began to pelt his body. 

Roman whirled around and couldn’t mistake the smirk on Deceit’s face, as well as the umbrella from Mary Poppins in his hand at the ready. Roman conjured up his own but still kept his eyes on him, furious. “What is this?”

“I _think_ it might be called _rain.”_

“You know that’s not what I’m asking!” Roman groaned. “I mean why are you doing this? It’s a nice sunny day and you just ruin it with all this rain!”

“Uh-huh, yep, it’s ruining everything.”

“Exactly! Why are you-” Roman stopped himself short, thinking for a moment. Deceit had an innocent look on his face, making him rethink who he was talking to. _It’s Deceit, he always lies so…_ His eyes flickered around. _It’s not ruining everything? What does that-_

The creative trait stopped short when he peered below the balcony, noticing all the flowers he created now grew and multiplied with the rain. Roman blinked in surprise. He certainly didn’t expect this from Deceit… _What’s he playing at?_

Roman whipped around, staring down Deceit, trying to figure him out. Deceit didn’t so much as blink wrong, still putting on the same innocent face as before. 

“Right… Well I’m watching you, Nagini.”

“Totally didn’t notice that Harry Potter reference.” The yellow eyes winked at him.

Roman huffed before making a beeline out of the castle. “Right, guess I’m stuck with you then, but you’re not going to ruin my night!” He started to add little details as he crossed the fake town, like different colored roofs and doors. Deceit watched, but to Roman’s delight, didn’t change anything.

That is, until a few of the houses structures began to change. Often becoming smaller instead of the grand houses he built. He turned to scold the lying trait about ruining his vision, then noticed it actually looked better. All of the same type of house was pretty bland, this actually enhanced how the taller ones looked.

He also noticed none of the animals running wild like they used to, and then an abundance of more predators that he certainly didn’t create. No overpopulation of animals like what would normally happen…

What was Deceit doing?

Finally, he reached the edge of the town but kept going until he was a safe distance away from it. Rubbing his hands together, he began to let his creative juices flow as he created a minotaur, then summoned his sword. Deceit raised an eyebrow, so Roman explained himself.

“A true hero must defend his city! So, I’m going to defeat this monster to prove that!” He grinned, readying his sword before launching himself at the monster.

The battle was short, given Roman knew exactly how it would move and react so soon, the slayed monster laid on the ground with the prince towering over it. He gave a proud grin, looking over at Deceit, but found he was frowning at him. He looked… Unsatisfied? _But I put on a great show! What’s his problem?_

Then, a look flickered in his eyes, and smirk to match it. Roman didn’t have enough time to ask what it was before he heard a low hissing behind him.

He turned, eyes widening and instincts kicked in just in time to jump out of the way as a large, golden snake lashed out at him. He rolled off to the side, and raised his sword to protect himself just as it did it again. The large fangs clashed against the sword, making him grunt as he struggled to hold out against it.

“What the hell, Deceit?” Roman barked at him, fully knowing if he didn’t create it, the lying trait did. Not to mention a snake, really? How tacky was this guy?

“Oops.” Deceit shrugged, then watched more eagerly than before. 

Roman would’ve said more but his attention was away from the creature for too long. He didn’t notice the long tail lashing out at him, hitting him directly in the stomach. The wind was knocked out of him, causing him to go tumbling to the ground. The sword was knocked out of his hand briefly.

Looking up, Roman tried to see if he could make it disappear or for an anvil or something to drop on it, but the Serpent didn’t so much as budge. _So if I don’t create it, I can’t control it._ Roman realized, eyes flickering from Deceit to the Serpent. _So does he control it? Or can he not control the things he creates?_

The prince didn’t have time to answer as once again, the snake lunges for him, yellow eyes glinting dangerously. Roman rolled out of the way, then outstretched his hand. His sword flew towards his grip and he lashed out at its side.

The snake made a pained sound, but seemed more angered than anything when blood was drawn. It jerked suddenly, bashing itself against Roman and catching him off balance.

The creative trait bolted away from it, trying to get breathing room but the Serpent was faster. It caught up, swiveling out of the way when Roman swung at it and instead, one of its fangs pierced his side. Pain blossomed where it hit, making him cry out.

Now, the golden monster slammed itself into him, but now at full power. Roman crumbled to the ground, the sword getting lost in the scuffle. It loomed over him and Roman finally noticed how hard his heart was beating. He raised his hand to try and defend himself, but closed his eyes as it lashed out at him. He waited for the strike that would finish him.

But it never came.

A frustrated hiss made him open his eyes, then he gawked at the golden strings holding the snake back, even in mid strike. They wrapped all around the long body, and even as they thrashed, it didn’t show any sign of breaking.

Seeing as this was his chance, Roman summoned his sword again and then charged at the snake. This time, he climbed up onto the body and moved straight for the head. He almost lost balance and fell when it thrashed around again, but stayed firm, then drove his sword into its head.

The Serpent howled in pain, then fell to the ground, stone cold dead. 

Roman removed his sword, then blinked and watched the strings retreat. He followed back to the source to find it was none other than Deceit. The golden strings disappeared into his fingertips, and he gave him a look like nothing happened. His eyes flickered to where the injury was, and with wave of his hand, the pain disappeared, like it was never there.

Roman had a million and one questions, and it took him a minute to decide which one to ask first. He approached the lying trait, then gestured to the snake. “You made that?” He asked, exasperated.

“Nope.” 

Roman translated it as a ‘Yep’ then continued. “Why? Why’d you create that _thing?”_

“Because it was simple.”

It took Roman a minute to get that one. “You wanted to challenge me? What, my Minotaur wasn’t enough?” Roman bristled. “I thought he looked great!”

That made Deceit roll his eyes. “Right, because that was _such_ a challenge.”

Roman opened his mouth to object, but found himself pausing and realizing he was right. He didn’t get much out of the Minotaur, but fighting the Serpent? He got a rush out of it, even if some of it was fear for his life. Well, though he wasn’t sure he could die without something horrible happening to Thomas- but that was besides the point! Roman couldn’t seem to find the right words to defend himself.

The brown eyes trailed to his gloves fingertips, squinting. His thoughts focused only on that now, more curious than furious. “Those strings- you can do that? What even was that?”

Deceit shrugged his shoulders, though he winked at him. “We don’t all have abilities. Summoning swords, puppet strings, none of that.”

Roman couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him. “Wow, you really _do_ try anything to make a lie, huh?”

Deceit didn’t answer but grinned along with him. Roman found himself looking around, then noticing the world flicker around him. “Thomas is going to wake up soon…” He noted out loud, trailing off. Once again, he stared at Deceit, who mirrored him, though seemed more perplexed now.

“I completely understand the look you’re giving me.” He murmured under his breath.

Roman looked him up and down, then remembered the things he changed.

“You created good things.” Roman noticed as he looked around. “A stable prey-predator relationship for the animals, more diverse houses, flourishing flowers, a challenge for me- all good things that seemed bad at first…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Deceit looked away, denying it.

Roman grinned brighter now. “You were tricking me. Making me think you were going to ruin everything, then doing the opposite.”

Deceit didn’t look him in the eye, staying silent. The dream began to flicker more frequently now, signaling that time was almost up.

Roman nodded to himself. Now knowing how Deceit could create good things like that- it made him think differently. He sure acted like a villain often, but Roman found he wasn’t one. Not really at least. It reminded him of Virgil, and comparing him to Virgil made him see him in a different light...

“Maybe you’re not so bad, Deceit.”

That’s when the dream melted away and Roman was back in his room. Deceit must’ve been teleported back to his own, but Roman remembered the look on his face just as they were separated.

The surprise. He wasn’t expecting that from Roman.

Roman found himself in a much better mood than before. Dreams always helped him feel better. Roman silently wondered if it helped Deceit as well.

————

“J?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re smiling.”

“Wha-no I’m not!”

“WE CAN ALL SEE YOU! WE’RE NOT BLIND, J! DO YOU THINK WE’RE IDIOTS OR SOMETHING?”

“Yeah, why you smiling? What, is it because of something better than me? Huh? Is that it? Did you find something that brings a smile to your face that’s better than me?”

“Stay angry, and I’m not smiling!”

“You are but this conversation is pointless, you’re just going to keep denying it…”

“N-n… Whatever, I don’t care! I’m not going to my room, follow me!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay finallyyy found the time to finish! I think it’s a little shorter than normal, but hopefully it was a fun chapter!
> 
> I decided to expand a bit on some trait’s abilities! Both Roman and Deceit can control dreams, because Roman is creative and uses memories to draw inspiration, while Deceit thrives off what’s not real so he can just do it naturally. (They’re the only traits who can control dreams. The others can watch, but not create) 
> 
> Plus, Roman has his trusty prince sword, and Deceit has puppet strings that work to his control. Planning on showing some of the others in the future!
> 
> I was a little tempted to imply some ships (No, not Roman and Deceit) buttt I decided to just leave it the way I first tagged it because platonic familyyy. Unless you guys REALLY wanted it, I’ll probably keep it that way! I’ll have fun writing it either way~
> 
> Deceit uses Sarcasm to lie, and decides to screw with Roman by making him THINK he’s going to ruin everything, then doing the opposite. Roman ends up catching on and sees maybe he’s not so bad.
> 
> Also Deceit subtly miiiight care because he doesn’t want Roman to actually get hurt while screwing with him. Just a bit of caring. (Plus Patton would kill him)
> 
> And that’s all! Hopefully it was enjoyable, I really wanted to have one that wasn’t entirely angsty to give poor Deceit a break, but I don’t think it’ll last too long. Comments are encouraged and appreciated!


	5. Ignorance Is Bliss (Is Knowing Pain?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the memories  
> (Even though they aren't so great)

**_Third Person_**  
The last person Deceit expected to see at the door was Patton.

Deceit stood in the doorway of the dark house that mirrored Thomas’. Patton beamed at him, making him squint in confusion at the trait.

“Patton,” He greeted uncertainty. Yellow eyes flickered behind Patton, but found he was alone. Unconsciously, he glanced behind him as well, but half sighed in relief to find he was too. He didn’t want to know how the others would react if they saw him with _Patton_ of all people. “This is completely expected…”

“Hey Deceit!” Patton waved at him, bouncing slightly on his feet. “So great to see you again!”

Deceit kept staring, dumbfounded. “...Do you not need something?”

“Oh, I was just talking to Roman! He mentioned you!”

Deceit’s heart froze. _Is he going to kill me for the Serpent hurting Roman? That’s what I would do- oh no… This is fine, this is completely and TOTALLY FINE. I AM SO CALM THIS IS FINE-_

“I’m so glad you two got to bond!” Patton laughed, letting him relax. 

_Oh, just that._ Deceit sighed. 

Patton’s eyes wandered around the inside of the house before finally focusing back on Deceit. “But I got to admit, it makes me a little jealous.”

“Jealous.” Deceit echoed, glancing back and forth. “Right… I see where you are going with this.”

“You know!” Patton exclaimed, settling down. “You and Logan came to an understanding; you and Virgil already knew each other and just got to kindle the flames of friendship again; and just the other day, you and Roman connected! It makes me jealous that I haven’t gotten to know you very well!”

_Processing. . ._

“You don’t want to hang out with me?” Deceit blurted out at last, catching on.

“Precisely, Kiddo!” Patton cheered. “Just you and me! A play date, or ‘Hanging Out’ as you kids say.” He winked, the bounced on the heels of his feet again. How he had so much energy was beyond Deceit. “So, you in? I promise it’ll be funnnnnn! A Patton Promise is never broken!”

Deceit continued to stare at him like he grew two heads. He wasn’t sure if he was awake or not, nor if this was a dream or a nightmare.

Patton noticed the hesitation and huffed. “Listen, I know I’ve been hard on you, but I swear it’s only because I’m looking out for my family! They mean the world to me, I don’t want anything to happen to them. I personally don’t like to discriminate between ‘Light Traits’ or ‘Dark Traits’ but I had to look out for my own first.”

Patton adjusted his glasses, smiling slightly. “But seeing how good you’ve been doing this with them, I think you’re overdue for an apology! I’m sorry, Deceit, can we bury the hatchet six feet under and hope the zombie apocalypse never comes- then have some fun on our play date? You seem like a good guy, I’d love to get to know you!”

Deceit couldn’t move, frozen in place and wondering if this was real or not. He pinched himself, then when nothing changed, finally spoke. “Uh… No?” He said uncertainty.

“Fan-fiddly-tastic!” Patton exclaimed, then grabbed Deceit’s arm and marched towards his own house. Deceit’s eyes were wide open the whole time, unsure if he just made a big mistake or not.

As soon as Patton threw open the doors to the Light Side’s house, Deceit squinted. Their respective sides were literal as much as they were metaphorical. The light nearly blinded him, as well as the lightened wall color and furniture.

Patton seemed to notice as he strolled in and turned off a few lights for him. “Forgot that you prefer the dark for a moment there! That’s on me!” Patton told him, seemingly making a beeline for somewhere but took his sweet time getting there.

It allowed Deceit to really look around. He hadn’t been in the house for anything other than lectures or trouble. Being invited in actually made him see how similar the two houses were. Outside of colors and atmosphere, Deceit had forgotten it looked identical. He didn’t even realize he was fiddling with his yellow gloves until Patton caught his attention again, gesturing to follow.

Patton lead him upstairs and down the hall, passing by pictures of various sides, all of which they were smiling in. Patton stopped at the second door, waiting as Deceit examined the place, and even noticed the first door, plain black with no scratches on it and a symbol of a mind with glasses, resembled a certain Light Trait.

Finally, he entered and immediately stopped in his tracks. The room being extremely bright was one thing, but what really shocked him was how he knew exactly was it was. 

“This isn’t your room.” Deceit blurted without thinking. Whipping around to find Patton, the emotional trait grinned at him. His yellow eyes searched him for some kind of answer, but couldn’t find any. Out of all the sides, Deceit found Patton the hardest to predict. He was emotional, and could do almost anything, unlike Logan who always chose the most logical choice, or Virgil who reacted on fear.

“Mmhmm! Gold Star!” Deceit soon found his black jacket that gave him a mysterious look ruined as Patton materialized a star sticker and planted it on him. Patton didn’t seem to notice the look Deceit gave him as he waltzed in, closing the door behind him and gesturing all around to the cluster of items. “Welcome to Patton Palace, Patton-pending!”

Deceit glanced about. All around were things from Thomas’ childhood- things he had deep in his memory- but also began to note a few other items. A small pair of glasses in a display case, a red cape that was worn down and had a few holes, a black blanket losing its soft exterior and a teddy bear with several stitches keeping it together.

“It’s all just Thomas’ stuff?”

Patton paused, translating what he was trying to say, then grinned. “Yeah, it’s not just Thomas’, it’s ours too! My room is about feelings and memories, it creates nostalgia depending on who’s in the room!” Patton gestured to the teddy bear, grabbing it and snuggling it close to him. “Amazing, right?”

Behind Patton, Deceit noticed a picture hanging on the wall, flashing with a memory. _It was Patton, though much younger, couldn’t have been older than seven. He played pretend the same teddy bear. Then another flashed of him, now ten and sewing the arm back on, humming a tune._

“Dull.” Deceit’s eyebrows raised. He began to look around, now more curious about Patton’s room. He heard of what it was like but being in person was a different story. Deceit wasn’t a fan of the overflow of feelings he was getting from the place, but memories and nostalgia? That could be something worth looking into.

The lying trait shifted through scrapbooks, notebooks and a few old toys before freezing in his tracts. Patton paused in the middle of reading a scrapbook and walked over, just as he picked it up. 

It was a black beanie. Morality’s first thought was it was one of Joan’s, but it was much too small for it to be theirs. “Did you use to wear a beanie?”

“No.” Deceit answered, almost defensively at first. He clutched it tight, and Patton noticed the picture once again began to change.

_It showed a young boy in the dark. The same beanie on his head and a yellow jacket covering a black T-shirt. The yellow eyes and scales on one side of his face gave away who it was._

_He entered an empty home, looking around. Not empty in furniture, but rather, when he uncertainty called out “Anybody not here?”, there wasn’t an answer._

“Hey, Kiddo? What’s-!”

“It’s nothing.” Deceit cut him off, dropping the hat quickly. “It doesn’t matter. I-...”

Deceit trailed off. He couldn’t help it, the room already started to show him more items that he recognized and feelings started to come back.

The next was a blanket with several patches in it. Deceit’s gloved hand trailed over it, and Patton watched another scene play on the frame.

_This time, Deceit wasn’t alone, and he was older. He was stitching a blanket back together, with a hooded figure laying on the floor behind him. “You don’t need to do that.” They mumbled to him._

_“No, I don’t.” Deceit mumbled back. Patton noticed while he didn’t have his same outfit he wore now, the beanie was now gone. He continued to work, teeth clenched as he once again, pricked himself with the needle. “And I’m going to stop right now because this doesn’t matter at all now.”_

_The figure huffed, but didn’t move. “Mmm… No point in trying to stop you…”_

Patton couldn’t help but smile a little. _Logan really was right! We are similar!_

Patton turned to say something to Deceit- he wasn’t sure what yet, he normally just spoke from the heart- but Deceit had moved on. 

Deceit had an indescribable look on his face, and was too focused to even notice Patton was there. He just kept moving, finding more and more memories being brought up.

He scooped up a pair of ripped jeans. _The frame flickered to life, showing Deceit, back with the beanie, holding out a hand to someone wearing the same pants- Patton didn’t recognize them. The younger Deceit smiled, and Patton saw how genuinely happy he was. He wondered if it was because Deceit wasn’t alone._

_The lying trait fiddled with a broken toy car, and instead, this time it showed Thomas, with a teacher holding the same car in her hands and asking if he broke it. Morality adjusted his glasses as he watched, remembering the moment well. Thomas shook his head- one of his first lies._

“It’s that the moment that created you?” He tried to ask, but the scaled man didn’t answer. “You’re really getting into this, huh? I’m glad!” Still no response. That worried him slightly but he shook it off, convincing himself it would turn out okay.

Deceit only made a full stop at one of Patton’s prized possession: The glasses in the case. Patton caught up and grinned brightly. “This one caught your eye? I’m not surprised, it’s one of my favorites too! It’s Logan’s old glasses! They don’t fit him anymore so he tried to throw them out but I kept them! They remind me of the old him. He was pretty different back then, y’know?”

“I don’t know.” Deceit said finally. His voice was intense, and his eyes didn’t sway from them. “I don’t remember anything.”

But the room betrayed him. Images began to flash, but instead of just the one frame, it showed on all of the pictures Patton had. His room only ever did that if someone’s memory was strong enough, and right then, Deceit couldn’t seem to think of anything else.

_It showed Deceit- a younger version, still holding wearing that beanie- but now facing Logan, equally as young. Morality nearly choked on his own breath. As much as he loved Logan, his younger self didn’t exactly… Play well with others._

_Logan started him down, narrows his eyes. “And I assume you’re one of them. The Dark Sides. Deceit, I presume? I heard about you from Morality. I’m Logic if you couldn’t tell.”_

_“I couldn’t tell.” Deceit echoed. It was clear in his eyes that he was nervous but his voice didn’t show it._

_Logan waited another beat before speaking again. “You’re the one making Thomas lie? And get into a web of lies?” Deceit shook his head. Logic raised his eyebrow at him, not pleased. “Everything you do is a lie. Even your look.”_

_“I completely understand.” Deceit frowned._

_“Your look. It’s a lie. Your hat for example- a beanie, yes? It makes you look innocent, when you are indeed, not. In reality, you’re a Dark Trait, but you hide that under a layer of looking just like every other trait, and not one that ruins Thomas’ life.”_

_Deceit’s face fell, and after a moment, he clenched his fists. Tugging off the hat, Deceit threw it down. He didn’t care that his hair was messed up, he just stared Logic down._

_Logan, at this point in time, had little sympathy or understanding of how to deal with people and their emotions. So, he didn’t react. “Interesting.” Was what he said in the end, then glanced behind him. “Are there more of you? Are they all like this?”_

_Deceit’s eyes flashed and he stepped in front of his line of sight. “Plenty more. Touch them all you want, you’ll be just fine.” Deceit growled, baring his teeth._

_Logan picked up on the threat, and decided to take a step back. “Not even a hint as to who they are?”_

_“Yes. Stay here.” Deceit told him. “You totally won’t see something you won’t like.”_

_Logan only stayed for a second longer. Then, he turned and left. “Goodbye, Deceit. I can tell you’ll be difficult to deal with.”_

_Deceit stared him down, then did the same._

When Patton looked back to Deceit, his fists were clenched, as was his jaw. He quickly took control, grabbing him and pulling Deceit out of his room, shutting the door behind him.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t know my room would have that effect on you so quickly! It normally takes a while before getting emotional! Are you okay?”

“No.” Deceit answered, then immediately was appalled at his truth and looked down. His gloves were gone again, and Patton found himself holding them. He snatched them back and sighed, putting them on as quickly as possible. Patton grinned sheepishly. He had no idea why that kept happening but maybe Deceit really was onto something when he mentioned his Morality influencing him.

Patton kept frowning, waiting until he was finished to continue. “I don’t mean to invade on your personal memories but… Do you dress the way you do because of what Logan said when you two were young? So you make yourself obvious?”

Deceit paused. “No.” He said at last.

“Oh… You realize that Logan’s different now, right?” Deceit didn’t answer. Logan’s words about ‘Lies of Omission’ came back to him, and Patton laid a hand on his shoulder. “Back then, he was Logic and only Logic. Myself, Roman- Virgil too once he came to us!- we all helped him become better. We all do that.”

Deceit pulled away from his touch, lips curling up to a sneer. “Right, because you need to become better.”

Patton shook his head. “It’s true, we all do! Roman’s working on maintaining and building his self esteem and ego, Virgil had to let his walls down- and I had to be more honest about what I was feeling! We all were young and stupid at sometime, we just needed other people to grow out of that!”

Deceit turned quiet for a long while. Longer than Patton was expecting.

But, in the end, Deceit tipped his hat towards Patton. “All of this was totally your fault. I had a terrible time, let’s never do this again.”

Patton exploded with happiness, and couldn’t help but suddenly hug Deceit. It startled and confused him, but eventually he gave Patton a small pat on the back, and Patton released him.

Deceit headed back to his home, with Patton watching his back the whole way there.

——

The Dark Trait with messy hair and slight bags under his eyes paused in confusion when they noticed Deceit in their room. Especially with their old blanket that they thought they accidentally tore apart ages ago.

Not only was Deceit stitching it back together, he was also extending it, adding more length onto the blanket.

After a while, they spoke. “J, what are you doing?”

Deceit didn’t look up. He didn’t need to after all, he knew who it was. Instead, he kept his eyes on the blanket. “Tearing your blanket.”

“...What’s the point?”

“No reason.”

The messy haired trait stood in the doorway for a long while before finally entering their room, flopping on the bed and staring down at Deceit, still on the floor. “You can tell me the reason. Or don’t. I’m fine with either.”

“I wasn’t reminded of this fondly.” Deceit told them. “And I didn’t want to fix it so you’d have one that actually fit you.”

The trait paused for a while, then sighed. “Hanging out with the Lights again?”

Deceit stiffened. “...No.”

“Mmmhmm…” A gesture at his jacket made Deceit look down. His face flushed when he realized Patton’s gold star was still stuck to him. “They make you so emotional sometimes…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shorter one butttt this one inspired my next one that's quite longer and hopefully, pretty entertaining!
> 
> Patton and Deceit get a little time together! I decided that Patton's room was a good way to both lead into the next chapter, shed a little light on Deceit and how he grew up, and overall, just have a good chapter. In Thomas' 'Moving On' videos, I noticed there's a little picture frame behind Thomas that switches between different pictures depending on what Thomas is remembering and decided to bump it up to full on scenes!
> 
> Patton's room can be good, but also, like for Virgil in 'Moving On' it can have a bad affect on people. Patton just wanted to have a good time and share feelings, but Deceit not only has an abundance of those, but most are pretty repressed feelings or ones he likes to keep to himself. Not exactly a great mix.
> 
> I have a personal headcannon that Logan wasn't so great as a child because it's the others that help him change, and just starting out, he doesn't have those, so he turns out pretty mean at first, but slowly gets better.
> 
> Deceit's feeling awfully sentimental... Maybe just enough to have a series of flashbacks later that'll tell a story of something, hmmmmmmmmm...
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed! Comments are both appreciated and encouraged!


	6. A Light That Looked Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rewind. . .  
> I remember that night, I just might-

**_Third Person_**  
It was late at night but Deceit was still awake. 

Patton had put him in a strange mood. He couldn’t stop thinking about the past and how things used to be. He even found himself digging up a few nostalgic items, and after a while, one had caught his focus.

A dark zip up hoodie. Not his, nor was it any of the other Dark Side’s. It was Virgil’s, and just looking at it made him feel… Different to say the least.

It brought back a lot of old memories.

—————

Thomas had just entered middle school when Deceit first met Anxiety. 

Deceit heard a new trait had formed and decided that maybe if he passed by the Light’s area, he’d get a peek at who they were. But, after recognizing Morality, Logic and Creativity, he frowned. Nobody else was there.

He was certain there was another, so he kept searching. Only in the corner of Thomas’ mind did he find him. 

He zipped up his jacket all the way and covered his face in the hood. The trait was sitting in the corner, holding his legs close to his chest and taking slow breaths. Oddly enough, he didn’t seem any calmer while he was doing it.

As Deceit approached him, he got a wave of energy off of him. Deceit felt… Nervous. Like his flight senses were sounding off and he was one scare away from running the other way and hiding under the covers of his bed. But, this only made Deceit more interested.

Crouching down to his level, Deceit peered at him. “And you must be the old one, hm? I don’t want to know your name.”

The new trait lifted his head, peeking out of the hood. His eyes were big with either wonder or confusion, then he pressed his back against the wall in fear.

It took Deceit a moment to realize why. His hand reached up and brushed the scales on his right side and let out a soundless sigh. “Worry, I bite.” Deceit attempted to reassure him.

But, it only became worse as the trait shrink back into his hood. Deceit grimaced. _This is going to be harder than I thought…_

Looking over him, his general appearance seemed like a Dark Trait, but it confused him. _Dark and Light are supposed to be equal, but this would make five Darks and three Lights. Strange…_ Not to mention, as jittery as it was to be near him, the Trait felt… Different. Deceit couldn’t seem to explain why. But, he seemed Dark, so he was one of them.

He decided to hold his hand out, a gesture of greeting, no speaking involved. The trait paused, then carefully took it, eyes shooting up at Deceit to watch him carefully.

“Don’t come with me.” Deceit said, helping up and holding onto his hand so he’d follow him.

“I… I don’t understand…” The trait murmured at last. His voice was small, and he didn’t look Deceit in the eye. “I thought you didn’t want me to come with you. Who are you?”

“My name isn’t Deceit.”

“Well then, what is it then?” He asked, confused. He frowned, eyebrows knitting together.

Deceit let out a frustrated huff and just kept leading him towards the house. The new trait asked a few questions along the way, but Deceit couldn’t answer so he stayed silent. Eventually, they made their way to the house, and the others got a good look at him.

“Hm? Who’s this?” The messy haired one stared for a long while. 

The trait paused, breath catching in his throat but spoke at last after taking a long breath. “Anxiety.” He mumbled. “I’m… I’m Anxiety.”

“He’s not the new trait.” Deceit told him.

Anxiety gave him a look. “Wha- yes I am?”

The other sighed. “That’s Deceit. He can only lie, no point in trying to change that.”

Anxiety paused, looking between them. “Oh… That explains a lot. In every sentence? Doesn’t that make it hard to understand him?”

They shrugged in return. “You get used to it after a while. I’ll get the others.” They turned and slowly made their way up the stairs.

Sighing in relief, Deceit turned to Anxiety, finally able to talk to him. He forgot that some weren’t used to the way he talked. “You’re not welcome here.”

Anxiety had a worried look for a moment, then it loosened when he remembered to translate. For the first time, Deceit saw him start to make a face, almost like a smile.

Deceit decided that even if he didn’t quite feel like one of them, not having the same inner darkness, that he was one of them. Deceit would make sure of that. He wasn’t going to kick the kid to the curb, and when the others came questioning if Anxiety was a Dark Side or not, Deceit told them he was.

And Anxiety was accepted into their little family in the blink of an eye.

————

Deceit wasn’t the best at comfort. Not in the same way others did anyways.

He could get others to lie to themselves, make them think they’re better, but actual comfort in getting rid of the problem? He could hardly do that for himself, doing it for others was a nightmare.

So, Anxiety’s fits of pure panic and disorder weren’t something he knew how to cure. He wasn’t even sure what they were but as Thomas continued through middle school, they only got worse. No amount of journals and writing his feelings out was making that completely go away.

Deceit tried to quell Anxiety but no amount of ‘Everything’s going to be alright’s or ‘You have nothing to worry about’s did the trick. He wasn’t the right one for the job.

One particular night, he passed by Anxiety’s door when he heard his uneven breathing from the other side. A strange twisted feeling stirred in his heart- he had no idea what to do.

So, he turned to the person best for the job, sending the once sleeping trait in with Anxiety and telling him to not say a word about why he was there.

Anxiety was caught off guard when he saw the trait with bags under his eyes. “A?” He questioned. His confusion temporarily made him forget what he was getting worked up over. “What are you-!”

He didn’t finish, because the trait did what he did best: Completely ignored what was happening. He walked over to where Anxiety was curled up on his bed and laid down beside him. In his monotone voice, he asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Anxiety stared at him for a while before shaking his head slowly. They just shrugged in return. “That’s good too. I don’t really care which outcome you want, I’ll just lay here until you do.”

And that’s exactly what he did. Even when Anxiety briefly got up to get a snack, he stayed there, unmoving. 

Eventually, Anxiety began to mention what was on his mind and they just laid there, listening and nodding slowly. Deceit wasn’t sure what they talked about but it ended with both of them asleep.

And maybe, just maybe, Deceit was smiling when he saw that.

————

Deceit might’ve been bad at comforting, but when Anxiety came to him, much quieter than usual, he gave it a shot.

Anxiety explained that Thomas was going on stage that day and how excited Creativity was. Then, how Anxiety accidentally made Thomas too nervous and they blew it. Creativity had chewed him out for it.

Deceit gritted his teeth. He didn’t like the Lights as it was but this kind of crap being put on _his_ people? No. Never again.

He pulled Anxiety aside and began to explain a concept he had learned. One of putting up a wall so nobody could hurt you. Maybe it was bad advice but it was all Deceit knew, and in his experience, it worked. He couldn’t just not do anything.

Deceit first showed him how to appear Dark so the Light Sides would stay away. He showed him how to put dark eyeshadow on, giving him a darker jacket- not to mention one that fit more- and messed with his hair, giving it a more shaggy look. Then, it was showing him how to have a dark attitude. He taught him sarcasm and how to build that wall up.

Next time Creativity got riled up, Anxiety snapped back. From what Deceit heard, he called him a stuck up Prince. It was enough to get him to back off, muttering about him being ‘Emo’. Later, the name started to catch on, and Creativity was dubbed ‘Princy’, both in a good and bad way. Anxiety was a little more confident that day, but still.. Something didn’t seem quite right.

_(Not to mention the week after Deceit heard what happened with Creativity and Anxiety, Creativity would find that his dreams just kept going wrong, his good things turning sour in minutes. Thomas didn’t like his dreams, but Deceit saw it as a warning: Leave the Dark Sides alone. He wasn’t sure if he got the message or not but Creativity certainly didn’t like it)_

——————

The day must’ve been just as deceiving as Deceit himself because it started out good, then flipped on him.

Thomas was in his twenties, and all was going well. None of the Dark Sides were bothered, and in return, the Lights weren’t either.

Over the course of a few years, Deceit started to hear true names, the name each trait has burned into their mind that marks as theirs. Of course, there’s one he’s known from the moment he met him, but everyone else kept it a secret.

But soon, he heard whispers. Logic revealed his to be Logan, with both Morality and Princy following, being Patton and Roman respectively.

The Dark Sides followed behind, at a more spread out pace. First one, then the other, until that day, Anxiety would follow.

Deceit was cooking pasta absentmindedly and Anxiety approached him. Deceit had gotten used to the nervous aura he had, which seemed to stay no matter how he was feeling, though did lessen in calmer times. “Anxiety, it’s a shame to see you.” Deceit said without turning around.

He could hear him shift in footing, but straighten up. “Same goes for you too… I have something to say.”

Deceit hummed in response, signaling him to continue. He took a deep breath before saying it. “My name’s Virgil.”

Deceit stopped cold in his thoughts. He wasn’t expecting that but… Now, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

“Virgil…” Deceit echoed. He turned, meeting anxious eyes, waiting for some kind of reply. As Deceit pondered it more, he blurted out defensively.

“I know, it’s nerdy and stupid but I just-!”

“It doesn’t suit you. I hate it.” Deceit cut him off. Virgil stopped, then had a slight breath of relief. His hands tapped against his leg.

“You do?”

“Nope. Virgil, like vigilant, doesn’t describe you at all.” Deceit winked, then turned back to stir the pasta a little more. “I’m not glad at all that you told me.”

Virgil was quite for a moment, but Deceit guessed he was smiling. Then, he seemed to wait for something. 

Deceit didn’t know why but… Virgil almost seemed disappointed by something when he left to tell the others. Like he was expecting something.

————

Virgil took a while to confront him, but he eventually did.

Both were in Deceit’s room. Deceit was in the middle of cleaning up when Virgil found the courage to say it.

“Deceit, how come none of us know your real name?”

Deceit froze on the spot. He knew this conversation was coming but had avoided saying anything until now. Virgil continued when Deceit didn’t.

“It’s just… I understand if you don’t trust me enough but I know how close you and Axel are and even he doesn’t know your real name. He’s told you his but…” Virgil made a small frustrated whine. “You haven’t said anything to him. To any of us!”

“It doesn’t matter.” Deceit mumbled.

Virgil ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “It’s just… It feels like you don’t trust us enough! I appreciate what you do but you keep us all at arms length and I just can’t help but wonder if you even trust us!”

“Virgil, names are just a word.” He doesn’t even believe himself when he says it. He doesn’t know why he says it in the first place.

“Why are you avoiding the question?” Deceit can feel his anxious energy quickly rising, and doesn’t like it. “Deceit, do you trust us?” Deceit can’t answer. He’s afraid of what’ll come out of his mouth. “Do you trust us? Don’t let me answer that question for myself, it’ll be worse for both of us. Do you-!”

“Yes.” Deceit blurted out, then it feel like pure ice had been poured into his veins. Both of them knew how he spoke, and both heard the strong _‘No, I don’t’_ that couldn’t stop echoing in their heads.

Virgil left as quickly as he could. Deceit let him, he didn’t try and stop him because he wasn’t sure how he could even make up for it.

All was quiet. Then came the lies from his room that whispered in his head.

_‘Not your fault, you didn’t do anything wrong!’_

_‘Virgil is just being too nosy, it’s not his business’_

_‘Nobody else cares about learning your true name, he’s just being selfish’_

But instead of being comforted by them, Deceit felt sick to his stomach. For the first time in ages, Deceit couldn’t stand being lied to, or the lies themselves. Every single one wasn’t true.

So Deceit spent the rest of the day outside of the house, far away from both his room, and everybody else.

————

Deceit didn’t know why he said it, or why it was true.

The remainder of the week, Deceit hardly talked to any of the Dark Sides. He felt too guilty to, and wanted to get to the bottom of it. He did interact with a few, but it was rather minimal.

The day after, he made dinner, like usual. The traits didn’t physically need to eat, but it helped keep their senses sharp so most of the time, they did anyways. When Virgil didn’t join them, Deceit knew it was him and promptly left. According the others, they got him to come soon after, even if he was more silent than usual.

So for the rest of the week, he made the food, then retreated to his room.

Axel joined him often. He said few words and just laid there while Deceit focused. His presence was… Oddly nice.

Deceit focused on the ‘Why’ factor. It wasn’t like he didn’t care about the others- quite the opposite really- but still, why didn’t he trust them with his name? Why did it matter so much? He trusted them with everything else- his life even- but something about his name made him shiver.

Took him ages to trace it back to the source, but he found it. He found it and it all made sense: Vulnerability. Telling them all something personal made him feel strange inside. 

Which meant it only left talking to Virgil again. Something even harder than the first task.

Several times, Deceit almost walked into his room but shyed away at the last second, frustrating himself.

In the end, he had to get help, and there was only one person he knew who was skilled in the art of talking to people.

Deceit doubted he’d talk to him as Deceit, so he took a different form. 

He approached Morality- Patton- while straightening his necktie and adjusting the glasses on his face. Logic- Logan- felt the most appropriate. The most likely to ask for advice about relationships.

Patton was in the kitchen, humming as he slipped a sheet of cookies in the oven, then grabbed onto the bowl with an unhealthy amount of cookie dough in it with a grin. Deceit had to squint for a while to get used to the light but eventually, took a deep breath, and spoke.

_Show time._ He told himself.

“Patton, haven’t I told you the dangers of uncooked dough before?” Deceit did his best to mimic Logan’s voice. It must’ve worked because Patton laughed and smiled at him.

“Logan! Don’t you worry, I haven’t gotten sick all the other times, and basically immune to it now!” He looked down at the bowl, then chuckled. “I’d offer you some but something tells me you won’t take me up on it.”

“Your assumptions are correct. However, the sentiment is appreciated.” Deceit said carefully, then internally sighed in relief when Patton smiled brighter. _He’s believing me. Good._ Taking on a slight breath, Deceit got to the point. “Patton, I… Require some advice.”

Patton blinked in surprise. “Oh?”

“People advice. _Emotional advice.”_ Deceit clarified, then shivered. If Logan and him could agree on anything, it was how messy emotions could be.

Patton’s eyes softened. “Oh. Yeah, I can help with that. What happened? You and Roman get into a fight?”

“Affirmative.” Deceit nodded, resisting the urge to fidget. Logan didn’t seem like the type to fidget, meaning it might draw suspicion if he did. “I think I might of angered him and I’m not sure how to proceed.”

“Well tell him you’re sorry, Kiddo! Duh!” Patton snorted a little. “You act so smart but the answer is so simple! Apologize, see how he takes it, and go from there! You can’t go anywhere further than the bottom, take a chance!”

Deceit heistated, but nodded firmly. “I see. Thank you, Patton.” Deceit turned to leave.

“Always happy to help! Even when they’re people like you, Deceit.”

And he instantly froze in his tracks. He whipped around, sputtering. “I-I’m not-!”

Patton just waved him off. His eyes were level, studying him closely now. “C’mon, I’m not the brightest bulb in the drawer but I like to think I know people. You played a pretty good Logan, but I know him like the back of my hand and you’ll have to try harder than that to convince me.” Patton gave a smile, one that was somehow both a reassurance, and a warning. “I’m glad you’re just asking for advice and not hurting anyone, but Deceit? Don’t try and act like you’re one of my family. Ever again. I won’t be happy with the result.”

Deceit felt a lump in his throat as his Logan disguise started to melt away, leaving his own flesh, scales and blood in return. He shook his head. “I don’t understand.” He told him. 

Patton gave a small smile, but his eyes told a different story. _‘Thanks, I’ll hold you to that.’_ Deceit left, feeling his eyes on his back.

When Deceit got back, it took some working up, but he made it to Virgil’s door and steadily opened up the door.

The yellow eyes spotted him immediately, lounging in bed. Virgil’s headphones were on and his eyes were closed. Deceit held his breath but entered, ready to get his attention, but suddenly, Virgil disappeared in a flash of light. 

Deceit blinked, then it dawned on him. That light could only mean one thing. _He’s being summoned by Thomas! He’s never faced him before, Thomas will know now!_

Deceit had heard many things about how Virgil’s room worked, but suddenly, he got a full blown taste of it. The room already enhanced people’s anxieties and fears, and when Deceit’s mind raced, it amplified it, and Deceit suddenly felt like he was drowning.

_Thomas is going to find out about Virgil. He’ll be subjected to even more torment about how he is._

Deceit had to gasp for air. _Four, seven, eight._ He told himself. _You have complete control. You have nothing to worry about._

\----------------

Virgil started to change after that.

Deceit never got to apologize that night, or anytime after. He fell asleep besides Axel after trying to calm down and wasn’t there when Virgil returned.

Not to mention, the next few times he tried to, Virgil kept getting summoned and he was gone again. It was slow at first, but Deceit started getting more and more frustrated.

_They’re taking him from me. They can’t do that! He’s one of us, what do they think they’re doing?_ Deceit growled to himself.

Next time he finally caught up to Virgil, instead of apologizing for their fight and explaining himself, he warned him. “The Light Sides aren’t dangerous. Don’t keep your guard up.”

A mistake Deceit wishes he could take back.

Deceit started to watch their interactions, and jealousy burned inside of him when he saw Virgil _laughing_ with them. Deceit knew he shouldn’t have but he stopped him, making him cover his own laughs. Virgil knew his presence immediately and after he came back, he was pissed.

“What the hell is wrong with you? I’m trying my best to at least make the best of this and you pull _this?”_ He screamed at him.

Deceit’s fists clenched. “Virgil, I didn’t say anything, keep seeing them. They make you happy, I can stand it.”

_“I told you, stay away from them. They just keep hurting you, I can’t stand it!”_

Behind him, the other three Dark Sides watched and slowly retreated to their room. They hated to hear them fight.

“It’s my choice to do this- I can handle them! This isn’t your business, stay out of it.” Virgil retaliated.

“You’re right, this isn’t my business. You’re not my business at all.”

_“It is my business! You are my business!”_

“That doesn’t give you the right to do this to me!” Virgil screeched back. The anxious trait had enough and stormed back to his room, leaving Deceit alone.

Deceit didn’t sleep that night. His room kept telling him he was doing the right thing.

—————

Deceit had learned quite a few things about rooms, but the most important one of them all was their placement.

When Virgil first came, he had to switch between rooms because his room didn’t show up right away. Deceit tried not to focus on how much that worried him.

But, one morning when they all ate breakfast together, Virgil was more talkative than usual. It made the rest of them smile. They spent the rest of the day watching Disney movies and pointing out all the secrets within them.

Then, at night, it was there. Virgil nearly dropped his jaw while Deceit couldn’t handle a smile and one of them even started screaming and congratulating him.

Deceit noted that rooms moved depending where they felt at home. Virgil felt he had his place with them then.

Which is why, when Deceit tried to go to Virgil’s room in the morning to finally apologize, his heart dropped. He told himself he wouldn’t cry, even as they already started to fall down his face. He wasn’t sure how he was going to explain it to the others.

Virgil’s room was gone. It took Virgil with them.

——————

Deceit locked himself in his room for nearly four days after that. Nobody allowed in, and Deceit didn’t let himself out.

His room was surprisingly silent. Not even a ‘Everything’s going to be okay’ from it. Deceit was oddly comforted by the silence, but at the same time, missed it.

The others found out the first day and knocked on his door. “Deceit, where’s Virgil? Did he like his new friends better than us? What did you two say to each other? Huh? Did he say he likes them better? I bet it was that pretty boy, Roman. I’M PRETTY TOO! AREN’T I PRETTY TOO, DECEIT?”

He stormed off soon after. Deceit couldn’t seem to say a word. Later, they came back, and tried to open the door before finding they couldn’t.

“Deceit? You would’ve said something by now, what’s going on? I can’t find Virgil’s room, or Virgil. Did he leave us? Was it Roman? I bet it was Roman, freaking pretty boy, I’m pretty too! Why is your room locked? Can’t I come in? Why can’t I come in? Did I do something? Would you let Virgil in? Why aren’t you answering me?”

A million questions, but Deceit couldn’t seem to answer any of them. He left after a while of talking. Deceit felt a burning sensation in his chest of guilt. _Should’ve said something… Why can’t I say anything?_

The next day, another appeared. Deceit knew who it was immediately.

“DECEIT! We’re freaking out here man! Are you really in there? Are you dying? Did Virgil do this? I SWEAR IF HE DID I WILL FIND HIM AND MAKE HIM PAY! I don’t understand! You don’t seem mad to me, why are you avoid us? DID I DO SOMETHING? DO YOU WANT ME TO PUNCH ME IN THE FACE FOR YOU? I WILL DO IT GLADLY!”

Deceit couldn’t say a word. He managed to knock lightly on the door to give reassurance that he really was there and he really was alive, but his throat constricted. Nothing else would come out, even if he wanted to.

And eventually, he too had to leave.

The third day, Axel was at his door. 

Unlike the other two, he didn’t say much at first. Deceit just noticed someone sitting on the other side and knew it couldn’t have been anyone else. Only he was this silent.

He stayed that way for a long time before eventually opening his mouth, and sighing. 

“I’m not one for sentiment or feelings but it has been strange without you. I guess in a way I miss you. We all do. We’ve all tried cooking but it’s not as good as you. The other two are losing it… I’m not sure what to do. Virgil’s gone, you’re gone… It’s strange.”

He stayed for a long time but eventually, even Axel had to leave.

The fourth day came around and finally, the room responded to his emotions. His room could create illusions, things that weren’t truly real, and he found himself face to face with himself.

Other Deceit stared him down, arms crossing. “So this is what it’s come to, huh? I can’t even bother to lie to you, you look terrible.”

It was true. Even his bowler hat couldn’t hide how greasy his hair had gotten or his scales that couldn’t hide the bags starting to form under his eyes. His usual cape was gone, on the floor and the rest of his attire was a mess and in desperate need to be ironed and washed. The only thing in tact was his yellow gloves, still firmly on his hands.

“I’m fine. They don’t need me.” Deceit mumbled, eyes fluttering shut in exhaustion. He hadn’t been sleeping well. “Stay all you want, I don’t care.”

Other Deceit, who was in perfect condition and was only missing the gloves, sighed and shook his head. “So many lies, even now. But all of this? It’s your own fault. A ticking time bomb you never dealt with that blew up in your face and then you wondered why.”

Deceit rolled his eyes just looking at him. “I totally get why you are here and telling lies.”

Other Deceit straightened his jacket, looking down at the one on the floor disapprovingly. The two pairs of yellow eyes met each other steadily. “As you know, rooms cater to who’s in them. Generally, the owner.”

“Oh please, _do_ go on. This is so interesting to hear things I already know.” Deceit grumbled. It didn’t help the one talking to him shared the same face as him. The face of someone he currently hated.

Other Deceit huffed slightly, crossing his arms. “You were tired of lies. So, I’m giving you the truth. Or rather, the room is. I’m not real.”

Deceit didn’t say anything for a while. He just glared at him, until finally he voiced his thoughts. “Oh do stay. I am _loving_ this conversation.”

Other Deceit shook his head, a small sigh escaped him. “I’m not leaving. Not when you’re being selfish.”

The lying trait frowned at him. He straightened up, leaning against the wall before repeating. “Selfish?”

A nod confirmed it. “How could you not see this was going to happen? Virgil was right after all, you keep your friends at arm’s length. They ask you your name and you say ‘Deceit’, fully knowing what they mean. They ask what it was like when you first came here, and you change the subject. And anytime anyone gets too close to your heart, you stop talking. You never tell them what you really think or feel. Not really.”

Deceit didn’t want to hear this. However, he couldn’t seem to speak, his throat closing up on him and that same guilt burning into his chest. A primal part of him wanted it to go away- to lie and pretend it wasn’t there, but he couldn’t seem to bring himself to do it.

“And now? You’ve been more selfish than ever, haven’t you?” Other Deceit’s eyes glinted. “When they needed you most, you did nothing.”

That’s where Deceit couldn’t stop himself from blurting out in his own defense. “I didn’t need time to myself!”

Eyes rolled in response, scoffing at him. “Time to yourself means a few hours, you’ve been gone for days. Right when they needed someone to hold them together. So very selfish… They lost two people in one day.”

Deceit blinked. _Two?_

Other Deceit knew exactly what was on his mind. Then again, in a way, he was his mind. “They lost Virgil first, after you drove him away with your terrible choices. Then, they lost you. Their leader, the one who holds them together, the best father figure any of them will ever have- gone in a blink of an eye without a word. Selfish, is it not?”

Deceit paused, then had to ask. “I didn’t notice how much you keep saying selfish and I don’t want to know why.”

Other Deceit’s eyebrows lifted. “Isn’t it obvious? Don’t know you I’m you? Or rather, your thoughts. You’re so very angry at yourself, it’s hard not to notice. Selfish this, selfish that- it’s all you can think. In the end, there’s only one thing I have to ask at the end of it all.”

Other Deceit began to flicker, fading away as Deceit ran out of things to say. In the end, he was left with a whisper, and he was alone once again.

_“What are you going to do about it?”_

———————

The other three sides were trying to enjoy a movie that day. It wasn’t working.

No amount of humor, touching moments or anything else that normally made them feel good was working. Even if any tried to deny it, they would each glance to the middle of the couch and the spot on the floor, both empty, where the missing two used to sit.

Eventually, one made a move.

With ripped jeans and hair pulled back into an almost manbun like appearance that set him apart from the other two, he ripped out the disc and promptly threw it at the wall, shattering it. “This is stupid, movies aren’t going to make it go away! I just- ARG!” He screamed, clenching his fists.

Axel didn’t stop him, nor did he really want to. All so much work that would probably do nothing in the end. And the other didn’t either, he was feeling the same frustration but just bottled it up instead of letting it out.

The one standing opened his mouth to shout more, then closed it when a figure walked in, staying close to the entrance. Their presence shocked all of them into silence, before the whisper of disbelief came.

“Virgil?”

The anxious trait waved, still sticking by the entrance. “Yeah uh… It’s me. I know I left abruptly but I couldn’t stop thinking about it and I just came back to say I’m sorry. But I can’t stay. Not with Deceit.”

A long silence passed through all of them before the one with ripped jeans growled lowly. “Don’t you dare say that! You come in here with that speech and you think that’s going to make us feel better? What we wanted to hear? We were worried SICK about you! Days without so much as a word!”

“I know, I didn’t mean for this to happen-!” He didn’t get much of a word in before another spoke up.

“Tch.” The other crossed their arms. Their hair was styled nearly perfectly, and they wore formal clothing and makeup on their face. “I’m offended frankly, I thought you’d know what we’d want. It’s certainly not this!”

“Look, look, I’m sorry. I just can’t be around him anymore. Deceit-!”

“Hey.” A softer voice than the other two caught his attention. Axel sighed deeply, rubbing one of his eyes halfheartedly. “I don’t think you’re getting the point. We know.” 

Virgil frowned. “Know… Know what?”

“Oh for the love of-!” The one with a manbun threw his arms in the air, exasperated. “We’re not IDIOTS! You might keep to yourself but guess what? We actually know you! Now take that stupid disguise off before I do it myself! You’re not fooling any of us!”

A shocked face grew on him until in a snap of a finger, it was gone, leaving Deceit in his place. Collectively, they relaxed. He gave a look between all of them, shocked. “How didn’t you..?”

They all gave him a long look before he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “So… I wasn’t caught. I, uh-!”

Before he could say anything, he was quickly engulfed in a tight hug. The other two joined at different times with varying levels of enthusiasm and Deceit closed his eyes, trying to stop rebel tears from leaving him. _Sweet mercy I missed this…_

Then, as it broke up after a few moments, Deceit cleared his throat. “I, uh… Don’t have something to tell you.”

Axel seemed to know what he was thinking right away, making him sigh. “You don’t have to tell us your name. I personally don’t care that much.”

He shook his head. “Yes, this isn’t something I need to do. Don’t listen to me at all.”

He sucked in a breath, and let it slip out.

\-------------------

“What are you thinking about, J? You seem distracted… Not that that matters but…” Axel shrugged his shoulders.

Deceit shook himself out of it and put the jacket back with a huff. “Nothing. Not Virgil.”

The other frowned. “You’re not blaming yourself, are you? There’s not point. What happened, happened. No changing that. Besides, Virgil’s with his people now.”

Deceit opened his mouth to protest, but earned a finger at his lip. “There’s no use in arguing it. You know I’m right. Let’s just… Sleep.”

Deceit hesitated, but gave up in end, laying down with Axel soon joining him. A thought came to his head. “If you don’t sleep so much, why do you not have bags under your eyes?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know… I don’t really question it. Somethings aren’t worth the energy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna include parts of this in the last chapter but then I got so into it that I just ended up splitting it up into two in the end because I had so much of it and yeah!
> 
> Lotssss of stuff here! Deceit and Virgil first meeting, the others didn't think that Anxiety would end up being actually a good guy so he didn't end up with them at first. Since Virgil isn't used to Deceit's way of talking, he kindaaaa misunderstands a lot of the things he says
> 
> Deceit tries his best to be good Dad to Virgil but lies can only help Anxiety so far before it ends up being counter productive or they get immune to it altogether. Deceit has to rely on getting others help for Virgil, but in the end, he really is meant to be with the lights and have people like Patton comfort him.
> 
> Since Deceit lies a lot, he kinda doesn't like telling the truth, which includes things about himself. While some of the others can stand this, once again, lies and anxiety don't always mix well together. Virgil gets kinda anxious about having someone who doesn't trust them enough with his emotions and that he won't trust them with other things, and Deceit isn't great at dealing with emotions or emotional people.
> 
> Kinda backwards to tell a sides name first before saying the actual side but I found it kinda fitting for this one so Axel is a character now! I mean, not like he wasn't before, but he's the one that usually talks to Deceit at the end parts. We'll talk more about him later. (Also, sometimes I used they/them pronouns for Axel because since both Deceit and him are guys and I couldn't say his name yet, I didn't want people to get confused on who was talking)
> 
> Honestly, in the end, both Deceit and Virgil made their mistakes that led to this happening. I didn't want to make it seem one sided that just one or the other caused it, because it was a joint mistake. 
> 
> Deceit goes to Patton for help. Patton sees right through him and mentions to never imitate one of his own again. Deceit holds up this promise, given Patton himself was never a part of the deal, and Virgil wasn't one of them yet.
> 
> Virgil hasn't talked to the other Dark Sides in a while, mostly because he knows he left without saying goodbye and talking to them again after that is rather panicking because there's a lot of messy feelings there.
> 
> More Dark Sides action! Gosh I love these nerds. Plus, it shows their relationship with Deceit! They really do rely on him quite a bit.
> 
> Deceit's room normally tells him lies to comfort him but after he begins to get into a mood of not wanting that, it chooses an illusion instead. After all, if it can't tell lies, it can at least create something that isn't real. Deceit's Other Self reflects his own thoughts, given he's kinda pissed at himself.
> 
> Deceit gets pretty tongue tied because he's not sure he can lie his way out of the situation like he's used to and that scares him. He's not sure how to help the others so he just tries to pull himself together but it doesn't work so well.
> 
> I know I kindaaaa teased at the end there with his name but don't worry! I think I planned a name reveal in two or three chapters so that's coming~
> 
> Still not gonna confirm the traits the other sides are butttt, I've dropped a lotta hints, I bet y'all can get it!
> 
> Anyways, thank you so much for reading! Comments are appreciated and encouraged!

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it for this one! I have a couple ideas for some other chapters though I dunno when they'll come out and such.  
> Little notes!
> 
> Since Deceit lies to everyone, I saw it only fair that he lies to himself as well. He'll block out thoughts he doesn't like and pretend he's okay, etc. Not to mention it's very difficult for him to be real with people, so he just lies, and the others figure out what he's trying to say through finding the opposite.
> 
> Yeah, I gave details to CHAIRS of all things... I had fun so hopefully it wasn't that bad
> 
> I also made Deceit kinda low key scared of Patton, and the reason why is because Patton can A: Be unpredictable with emotions, which Deceit doesn't like because he likes to feel in control of people, and B: Patton is Morality, the thing that embodies truth, and not only does that make him uncomfortable in general, but that part of Thomas is the part that makes him feel just slighhttttly guilty for lying all the time.
> 
> Patton and Thomas have stated in the past that Patton isn't just his happy emotions, but the core to all of them. He can technically be any emotion, but prefers being happy. So, he can also be angry as well. He manages to hold his anger in for a while there, but it explodes in Deceit's face when he crosses the line too much, and all that built up anger is straight up cruel. Logan has seen this before, knows how to calm him down, and the fact that he needs someone to stop him because he will go on if no one does. Virgil and Roman however, have not and are scared to DEATH when they see this. Also, he always cries afterwards because the guilt gets to him of, "Oh no, I just screamed at someone"
> 
> Deceit gets as emotional as he can be, and really breaks for a moment there. He's got a lot of feelings too, just prefers not to deal with them.
> 
> The rest of the gang and Deceit arrive at a stop to their arguments. Deceit isn't going to pull something like he did, again, and while they understand each other better, they are long before they actually function like Virgil does with the rest of them.


End file.
